#ariana grande voice: i hate america. i hate americans

[sridevi]

Chained To The Rhythm went #1 in Saudi Arabia btw

[curiosityjams]

me: “wow, can’t wait to finally get sleep tonight”

fireworks: “no you’re not”

me: “no i’m not”

[v3vanya]

“WHEN I AM SILENT A FALL INTO A PLACE WHERE EVERYTHING IS MUSIC” -Rumi      Living the notes of music...

SABRINA CARPENTER.....

Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter(born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress,After making her acting debut with an appearance in the crime series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, she starred in a recurring role as the young version of Chloe Goodwin in the television series The Goodwin Games. Carpenter was later cast as Maya Hart in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World, from 2014 to 2017.Carpenter has starred in the feature films Horns (2013), The Hate U Give (2018), and starred as Jenny in the Disney Channel Original Movie Adventures in Babysitting (2016). As a voice actress, she had a recurring role as Princess Vivian in the Disney Channel animated series Sofia the First from 2013 to 2018. In 2016, she began voicing Melissa Chase on the Disney XD animated series Milo Murphy's Law.Carpenter's debut EP, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying, was released in 2014, and in the same year, she released her debut single of the same name. She released her debut album, Eyes Wide Open in 2015, and has since released another three studio albums: Evolution (2016), Singular: Act I (2018), and her most recent studio album, Singular: Act II, was released on July 19, 2019.

DEMI LOVATO

Demetria Devonne Lovato ( born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television judge After appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004), she rose to prominence for her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel musical television film Camp Rock (2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010).Lovato has released six studio albums: Don't Forget (2008), Here We Go Again (2009), Unbroken (2011), Demi (2013), Confident (2015), and Tell Me You Love Me (2017); all of which debuted in the top five of the US Billboard 200. She has earned nine top-20 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 with "This Is Me", "Here We Go Again", "Send It On", "Skyscraper", "Give Your Heart a Break", "Heart Attack", "Cool for the Summer", "Sorry Not Sorry", and "I Love Me". In total, she has sold over two million albums and 20 million singles in the United States.[7] On television, Lovato has starred as the titular character on Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011); served as a judge and mentor on The X Factor USA in its second and third seasons; and appeared as a recurring character on Glee. Her struggles with personal issues received significant media attention in the 2010s; in response to which she published a book, Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year (2013), and released a YouTube documentary about her life and career, titled Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017).Lovato is a pop, pop rock, and R&B artist. She has received various accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, and two Latin American Music Awards. She also holds one Guinness World Record, and in 2017 Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Outside the entertainment industry, Lovato is an activist for several social causes.

LAURA MARANO

Laura Marie Marano (born November 29, 1995)is an American actress and singer. She starred in the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally as Ally Dawson. Marano was one of the five original classmates in Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. She starred in Without a Trace for three seasons and also Back to You, in both instances playing the daughter of the main characters. Marano starred in the indie film A Sort of Homecoming.[5] Marano also starred in the 2015 Disney Channel Original Movie Bad Hair Day. In 2019 Marano starred in the Netflix original movie The Perfect Date.In 2015, she signed with Big Machine Records and released her debut single "Boombox" on March 11, 2016 and "La La" later that year. On October 5, 2018, Laura Marano released the single "Me" as an independent artist. On January 13, 2016, Marano debuted her own radio talk show on Radio Disney entitled For the Record with Laura Marano. The weekly one-hour show chronicles Marano's journey as she launches her music career, featuring interviews with a guest star in each episode. The show also provides listeners tips on how one can pursue a career in music. The show has featured various guest stars including Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, OneRepublic, and Troye Sivan. The first episode of the show, which aired January 12, 2016, guest starred her co-stars of Austin & Ally.

SELENA GOMEZ

Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television producer.  Born and raised in Texas, Gomez began her career by appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004). In her teenage years, she received wider recognition for her role as Alex Russo on the Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012).Alongside her television career, Gomez has starred in the films Another Cinderella Story (2008), Princess Protection Program (2009), Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), Ramona and Beezus (2010), Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), Getaway (2013), The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), The Dead Don't Die (2019), and A Rainy Day in New York (2019). She also voices the character of Mavis in the Hotel Transylvania film franchise (2012–present), and has executed produced the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2020) and Living Undocumented (2019).Gomez released three albums with her former band, Selena Gomez & the Scene: Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011), all of which attained gold certifications and reached the top ten in the US. Additionally, Gomez has released three albums as a solo artist: Stars Dance (2013), Revival (2015), and Rare (2020), all of which debuted at number one in the US.[2] She has released eight songs which reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100: "Come & Get It", "The Heart Wants What It Wants", "Good for You", "Same Old Love", "Hands to Myself", "We Don't Talk Anymore" with Charlie Puth, "It Ain't Me" with Kygo, and "Lose You to Love Me", the latter being her first US number-one single.In 2017, Billboard reported that Gomez has sold over 7 million albums and 22 million singles worldwide. Gomez has received various accolades and was recognized as the Billboard Woman of the Year in 2017. She has a large following on social media, and was at one point the most-followed individual on Instagram. Gomez's other ventures include a makeup line, a clothing line, a handbag line, a fragrance line, and a production company named July Moonhead Productions. She has worked with various charitable organizations and, at age 17, she became a UNICEF ambassador.

MEGHAN TRAINOR 

Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter "All About That Bass", and for being the recipient of the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. Trainor became interested in music from a young age; she wrote, recorded, and produced three independently released albums between 2009 and 2011. After signing a publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog Music, Trainor wrote and helped produce country and pop music for other artists in 2013. She met producer Kevin Kadish in June that year, with whom she wrote "All About That Bass".Trainor rose to fame after signing a contract with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing "All About That Bass", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive weeks and received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) but drew criticism for its lyrical content. The song was included on Trainor's major-label debut studio album Title (2015), which also includes the top-10 singles "Lips Are Movin" and "Like I'm Gonna Lose You". The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was awarded a triple-platinum certification from the RIAA. The lead single of Trainor's follow-up album Thank You (2016) was "No", which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at the same position on the US Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA. Her third album with Epic, Treat Myself, was released in January 2020.

DUA LIPA 

Dua Lipa; born 22 August 1995)  is an English singer and songwriter. After working as a model, she signed with Warner Music Group in 2015 and released her self-titled debut album in 2017. The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart, and yielded nine singles, including "Be the One" and "IDGAF", and the UK number-one single "New Rules", which also peaked at number six in the US. In 2018, Lipa won the Brit Awards for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.Released in April 2018, the single "One Kiss", with Calvin Harris, peaked at number one in the UK, and became the longest-running number-one single for a female artist in 2018. It won her the 2019 Brit Award for Song of the Year. In 2019, she was also awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and "Electricity", a collaboration with Silk City, won her the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. The success of the singles helped her self-titled album become one of the most-streamed albums on Spotify and achieve platinum certifications. Her second studio album, Future Nostalgia, was released in March 2020 to critical acclaim. It is her first UK number-one album; its lead single "Don't Start Now" peaked at number two on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100.Lipa has received various accolades, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards and two MTV Europe Music Awards. She has also been nominated for three Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, and four MTV Video Music Awards.

BILLIE EILISH 

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (born December 18, 2001) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.She first gained attention in 2015 when she uploaded the song "Ocean Eyes" to SoundCloud, which was subsequently released by the Interscope Records subsidiary Darkroom. The song was written and produced by her brother Finneas, with whom she collaborates on music and live shows. Her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me (2017), reached the top 15 in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), debuted atop the Billboard 200 and became the best-performing album of 2019 in the US.[2] It also reached No. 1 in the UK. The album contains six Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles: "When the Party's Over", "Bury a Friend", "Wish You Were Gay", "Xanny", "Everything I Wanted",[a] and "Bad Guy", the last of which became her first No. 1 single in the US. In 2020, she performed the theme song "No Time to Die" for the James Bond film of the same name, which became her first to peak at No. 1 in the UK.Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, two Guinness World Records, three MTV Video Music Awards, and one Brit Award. She is the youngest person and second person ever to win the four main Grammy categories – Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year – in the same year. In 2019, Time placed her on their inaugural "Time 100 Next" list. Additionally, Eilish is the 23rd biggest artist of the digital singles era, according to RIAA, selling 37.5 million singles in the US alone.

HAILEE STEINFELD 

Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. . Her breakthrough role was as Mattie Ross in the drama western film True Grit (2010), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Thereafter, Steinfeld gained further prominence for roles in Ender's Game (2013), Romeo & Juliet (2013), Begin Again (2013), and 3 Days to Kill (2014). She appeared as Emily Junk in the Pitch Perfect film series (2015–2017), and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her role as Nadine Franklin in The Edge of Seventeen (2016). In 2018, she voiced Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and starred in the action film Bumblebee, contributing to the latter's soundtrack. Steinfeld currently stars as Emily Dickinson in the Apple TV+ series Dickinson.Steinfeld made her breakthrough in music after performing "Flashlight" in Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), signing with Republic Records soon after and releasing her debut single, "Love Myself", followed by her debut extended play Haiz (2015). She has since released a series of singles, including "Starving", a collaboration with both Grey and Zedd, which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, and "Let Me Go", a collaboration with Alesso, Florida Georgia Line and Watt, which peaked at number 14 on the

CAMILLA CABELLO

Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao ( born March 3, 1997)  is a Cuban-American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, formed on The X Factor USA in 2012, signing a joint record deal with Syco Music and Epic Records. While in Fifth Harmony, Cabello began to establish herself as a solo artist with the release of the collaborations "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with Shawn Mendes, and "Bad Things" with Machine Gun Kelly, the latter reaching number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. After leaving the group in late 2016, Cabello released several other collaborations, including "Hey Ma" by Pitbull and J Balvin for The Fate of the Furious soundtrack, and her debut solo single "Crying in the Club".Cabello's debut studio album, Camila (2018), reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The Latin music-influenced pop album was well received by critics, and received a Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its lead single "Havana" topped the charts in several countries including the US and UK, and follow-up single "Never Be the Same" reached the top 10 in multiple countries. Cabello's 2019 duet with Mendes, "Señorita", became her second single to top the Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, Romance (2019), peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and number one in Canada.

ASHLEY TISDALE 

Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress, singer, and producer. During her childhood, Tisdale was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-2008). This success was heightened when she starred as Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series (2006-2008). The success of the films led to Tisdale signing with Warner Bros. Records and subsequently releasing her debut studio album Headstrong (2007). The album was a commercial success, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Tisdale played the voice of Candace Flynn in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas & Ferb (2007-2015).Tisdale's second studio album, Guilty Pleasure (2009), was released to less commercial success than its predecessor. Tisdale would part ways with Warner Bros. Records following the release of the album. During this time, she began appearing in more films and returned to television with shows such as Hellcats (2010). Tisdale's production company Blondie Girl Productions, first formed in 2008, signed a multi-year production deal with Relativity Media in 2010; Tisdale would produce shows such as Miss Advised (2012) as part of the deal. Tisdale starred in the High School Musical spin-off film Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure (2011), releasing a soundtrack to promote the film. This marked her final portrayal of the character to date.

TAYLOR SWIFT

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter.She is best known for her narrative songwriting that often centers around her personal life, which has received widespread critical praise and media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at age 15, she signed her first record deal. Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s on the Billboard 200. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second studio album, Fearless (2008), propelled her to international fame and produced the successful pop crossover singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me". It became the best-selling album of 2009 in the U.S., won four Grammy Awards—including Album of the Year—and was certified Diamond by the RIAA.Swift's self-written third album Speak Now (2010) and genre-bending fourth album Red (2012) each sold over one million copies in their first week in the U.S.; the latter yielded her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". Her fifth album and first all-pop project, 1989 (2014), produced the back-to-back number-one singles "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space" and won three Grammy Awards—including Album of the Year—making Swift the first woman to succeed herself at the top spot on the Hot 100 and the first woman to win Album of the Year twice as lead artist.  

ZARA LARSSON 

Zara Maria Larsson  born 16 December 1997) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. At the age of 10, she achieved national fame in Sweden for winning the 2008 season of the talent show Talang, the Swedish version of British TV's Got Talent.  Four years later, in 2012, Larsson signed with the record label TEN Music Group and subsequently released her debut compilation recording, the extended play Introducing, in January 2013. The single "Uncover" topped the music charts in Scandinavia: Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. In February 2013, "Uncover" was certified Platinum by Universal Music Sweden.In July 2013, Introducing was certified 3× Platinum in the country.France. Larsson's debut international album So Good was released on 17 March 2017 and entered at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. It produced eight singles: "Lush Life", "Never Forget You", "Ain't My Fault", "I Would Like", "So Good", "Don't Let Me Be Yours", "Only You", and "Symphony", a collaboration with Clean Bandit. Almost all the album's singles reached the top 15 in the UK.

[dylanobrienisbatman]

100 Questions

it’s long so it’s under the cut, but man was this fun. thanks for the tag @the-most-beautiful-broom ♥ i’ll tag my loves (if you want to haha this is a lot) @raven-reyes-of-sunshine @perhalta @dracovengeance @hedaalicia and @amihanmayari

1. What is your nickname? Bails

2. How old are you? 24

3. What is your birth month? February

4. What is your zodiac sign? Aquarius!

5. What is your favorite color? green (Aw hey linds, same !!) 

6. What’s your lucky number? I was number 8 for marching band every single year (F8 for flute 8) except my junior year, and my junior year we had a shit show, so im calling that. 

7. Do you have any pets? 5 dogs back home in seattle but none where i live now or in NY when i get back

8. Where are you from? everywhere and nowhere. my dads military. but im american! 

9. How tall are you? 5’ 5″

10. What shoe size are you? 7

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? A whole lot, but they’re not always all with me. 

12. Are you random? not really. im pretty set in my routines and very comfortably a home body

13. Last person you texted? my best friend @broadwaybound2016

14. Are you psychic in any way? not even a little tbh

15. Last TV show watched? The Bold Type (WATCH IT ITS AMAZING)

16. Favorite movie? I’m not really sure but i just watched Love, Simon and im literally just crying because of it right now so im gonna go with that until further notice

17. Favorite show from your childhood? probably Lizze McGuire

18. Do you want children? Nope

19. Do you want a church wedding? I dont really want to get married

20. What is your religion? agnostic? maybe? im not religious, and not very spiritual. I love spirituality, things like crystals and stuff, but i try not to appropriate those things from groups/cultures who actually use them. I’d love to learn more about them and be someone who actually knew how to practice but, again, i dont want to step on toes culturally and take things that aren’t mine to take

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? a lot! a ton of surgeries on my ears

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? nope, im literally a goody two shoes

23. How is life? lovely

24. Baths or showers? showers!

25. What color socks are you wearing? i dont really wear socks? i like those little half socks. I’m not wearing any rn

26. Have you ever been famous? nope.

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? probably. i’d love to have a voice, and if it was for doing something i love, i cant think of anything better than getting to share my passion with the world like that. But it would definitely be a lot of pressure

28. What type of music do you like? i’m into literally anything. I love Hayley Kiyoko, the 1975, big fan of just basic pop like ariana grande and charlie puth, Harry Styles’s album is a masterpiece, Shawn Mendes, 5th Harmony. i love anything.

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? Yes!!

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? just two!

31. What position do you usually sleep in? on my stomach

32. How big is your house? my house at home is a 5 bedroom 3 bath, my apt in amsterdam rn is just a room in a hotel type place with my own bathroom, and my apt in nyc is a studio

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? i literally hardly ever eat breakfast, but i love a bagel

34. Have you ever left the country? I’m in europe RIGHT NOW! lol

35. Have you ever tried archery? once, i was terrible

36. Do you like anyone? Not right now, but i might want too

37. Favorite swear word? i love the word fuck. it’s got so much you can do with it. i swear like a sailor.

38. When do you fall asleep? ummmmmm? whenever i guess lol 

39. Do you have any scars? A few small ones. a decent one on my knee from falling off my bike when i was 8

40. Sexual orientation? Bisexual

41. Are you a good liar? excellent

42. What languages would you like to learn? ALLLL the languages. I’d love to learn native hawai’ian. i spent my high school years there and the culture is so incredible, and i was so welcomed into it by my friends who were from there, i’d love a chance to really connect too it and try to learn that. 

43. Top 10 songs? Oh boy... im just gonna bullet these because i cant decide the order but this is the general

the way i am - charlie puth

young god - halsey 

rather be - clean bandit

feelings - hayley kiyoko

woman - harry styles 

make me feel - janelle monáe 

six inch heels - beyonce 

get right witcha - migos

my my my - troye sivan 

nice for what - drake 

44. Do you like your country? i’m torn at the moment. I hate tr*mp and everything him and his stand for, but i think america can be a wonderful place. 

45. Do you have friends from the web? Yes!! <3

46. What is your personality type? MBTI: INTP 

47. Hogwarts House? Ravenclaw

48. Can you curl your tongue? yes!

49. Pick one fictional character you can relate to? I am Hermione and Hermione is me. (also i really relate a lot to Lexa from the 100, which... is interesting. the way she suppresses feelings, her generally logical approach to things, the way she is totally useless around pretty girls.) 

50. Left or right handed? right!

51. Are you scared of spiders? If they’re like, big spiders yes. or if they come out of nowhere. im way more scared of cockroaches tho.

52. Favorite food? For some reason this question has been really hard for me lately? idk. i love a good indian style curry, and tacos? 

53. Favorite foreign food? Indian!

54. Are you a clean or messy person? I’m CLEAN, but im messy. i feel like cleanliness and orderliness have been misconstrued to mean the same thing, but clean is to dirty as orderly is to messy. I’m clean and messy, i am not very orderly, and i am NOT dirty. 

55. If you could switch your gender for a day, what would you do? Experience a walk down the street in a city at night where im not afraid

56. What color underwear? black

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? not too long, but it sometimes takes me a long ass time to pick an outfit 

58. Do you have much of an ego? It’s as big as it should be. 

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? i suck on them until i can bite them

60. Do you talk to yourself? Constantly.

61. Do you sing to yourself? Hell yeah

62. Are you a good singer? i’m decent but i need another voice to match with. on my own i can’t carry a tune. 

63. Biggest Fears? failure. and heights. 

64. Are you a gossip? I can be, but never about like.. bad things. I like to talk about how this friend or that friend did x y z cool thing but im not like “omg did you hear so and so hooked up with so and so” 

65. Are you a grammar nazi? Not really because i can’t spell for shit

66. Do you have long or short hair? Short-ish? i cut my hair in march of LAST YEAR and then trimmed it again this year and i want it to fucking grow

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? i would definitely forget some

68. Favorite school subject? History

69. Extrovert or Introvert? Pretty introverted. 

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? Nah, im not allowed too for medical reasons

71. What makes you nervous? when I see kids wandering and their parents not noticing (okay im keeping that because me too, but also travelling? like the in-transit part of travel, catching busses/trains/planes makes me panic)

72. Are you scared of the dark? not at all

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? i try not too unless its major. usually its unintentional or the mistake is irrelevant to the flow of the conversation/situation  

74. Are you ticklish? Yes, but i hate being tickled unless its like, my sister or my dad

75. Have you ever started a rumor? No

76. Have you ever been out of your home country? Yes i have lol (linds, ily, we DEFINITELY have been over this already)

77. Have you ever drank underage? a little, but not until i was like 19, and then i was in europe for 6 months, so i didnt REALLY drink underage until i was like... less than 6 months to 21

78. Have you ever done drugs? Pot pretty regularly here in Amsterdam, and i’ve done shrooms

79. What do you fantasize about? getting a beautiful loft in a big city (preferrably london or NYC), with a kick ass job, a dog, and maybe a girlfriend with huge curly hair.

80. How many piercings do you have? Four

81. Can you roll your R’s? Yep!

82. How fast can you type? I just took a little online quiz that said i can type 72 words per minute with 93% accuracy? 

83. How fast can you run? lol I don’t run (same linds... same)

84. What color is your hair? brown!

85. What color are your eyes? Green!

86. What are you allergic to? I’m a bit lactose intolerant and pineapple makes my tongue itch?

87. Do you keep a journal? no, but i wish i did sometimes 

88. Are you depressed about anything? I’m not depressed “about anything”, im just generally someone who experiences a pretty mild case of depression.

89. Do you like your age? Yeah, i dig it.

90. What makes you angry? bigotry, ignorance, and spilling things. I spill drinks constantly, i spilled a WHOLE BOWL OF CEREAL ON MY FLOOR THE OTHER NIGHT.  

91. Do you like your own name? I didn’t used too but i really do now

92. Did you ever get a foreign object up your nose? not that i know of

93. Do you want a boy or a girl for a child? I don’t want kids. 

94. What talents do you have? i have a pretty great memory, but for random things i dont need 

95. Sun or moon? Moon <3

96. How did you get your name? My dad, he just liked it. My middle name was also my dad, he heard the name Jess on the movie A Man From Snowy River and he thought it was a nice like, nickname/pet name, so he gave me the middle name Ges (pronounced like Jess) with the intent of calling me that (it didnt stick), but he didn’t want anyone to think my middle name was Jessica, so he spelled it Ges.

97. Are you religious? I am not, but i have a lot of respect for the concept of religion, as long as its used for the real purpose, which is to make people feel peace and help people find love and comfort. 

98. Have you ever been to a therapist? I have not, but i shold

99. Color of your bedspread? White

100. Color of your room? White, with one black wall 

[nigeiadigitalmarketingcompany]

2:00PM Water Cooler 7/22/2019

Digital Elixir 2:00PM Water Cooler 7/22/2019

By Lambert Strether of Corrente

Patient readers, this is a temporarily shortened Water Cooler until I finish a post on fascism. Then I will return with more. –lambert UPDATE All done!

Trade

“China’s war chest of rare earth patents give an insight into total domination of the industry” [South China Morning Post]. “China is strengthening its grip on the rare earths supply chain and could use its dominant position as a bargaining chip in its trade war with the US. China has been investing heavily on facilities to do the bulk of the dirty and environmentally damaging mining and ore processing work for the world, systematically turning its know-how and methodologies into patents that could give it a competitive edge against its rivals… Meanwhile, US government reports have noted that it would take years for the US to build enough domestic processing capacity to match China’s.” As Michael Hudson wrote at NC yesterday:

[T]he trade balance is not simply a matter of comparative international price levels. The United States has dissipated its supply of spare manufacturing capacity and local suppliers of parts and materials, while much of its industrial engineering and skilled manufacturing labor has retired. An immense shortfall must be filled by new capital investment, education and public infrastructure, whose charges are far above those of other economics.

Thanks, neoliberals!

Politics

“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” –James Madison, Federalist 51

“They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery.” –Frank Herbert, Dune

“2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination” [RealClearPolitics] (average of five polls). As of July 17: Biden still climbing at 28.4% (27.8), Sanders still steady at 15.0% (15.0%), Warren down sharply at 14.6% (15.0%), Buttigieg steady at 4.8% (4.8%), Harris losing her post-debate bump 12.6% (13.4%), others Brownian motion. Polls still as of July 17.

* * *

2020

Harris (D)(1): “Kamala Harris joins Katy Perry, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande for fundraiser hosted by Scooter Braun at his $20M LA compound – prompting Taylor Swift fans to attack Democratic hopeful” [Daily Mail]. “Kamala Harris added some major star power to her campaign on Saturday night at a fundraising event in Los Angeles…. The cozy gathering took place at the $20 million compound of starmaker Scooter Braun, who has helped guide the careers of A-listers including Justin Bieber, Kanye West and supermodel Karlie Kloss. … Fans of Swift have been upset with Braun ever since the Grammy winner attacked him on Tumblr following his purchase of her entire music catalogue. And now, they are upset with Harris for attending a fundraiser hosted by Braun. ‘If @KamalaHarris thinks this will get her votes she is delusional and @scooterbraun is a thief who uses these women to advance his bank account just like Kamala used a man to advance her career,’ wrote one Swift supporter. And another spelled out Harris’ inevitable doom, stating: ‘please don’t do a fundraiser with @scooterbraun you will lose a lot of votes to @ewarren I want to support you but cannot if you associate with a bully and misogynist @taylornation13 why don’t you reach out to her instead!’”

Sanders (D)(1): “Bernie Sanders makes my skin crawl.” They really do hate him:

Apparently, expressing generalized, completely non-specific and substance-free personal hatred of Bernie Sanders is now considered serious and legit political analysis on MSNBC

https://t.co/oFA8s8NenL

— David Sirota (@davidsirota) July 21, 2019

Must be listened to, to be believed.

Sanders (D)(2): Same:

Corporate journalists laugh right at Bernie Sanders’ face and his foolish, foolish integrity. #FeelTheBern pic.twitter.com/eO9wB2MWAp

—

Clark Feels The Bern (@Clarknt67) July 19, 2019

Sanders (D)(3): “Sanders Tops Democrats’ List of Most Liked 2020 Candidates: Gallup” [Newsweek]. “Out of 10 candidates ranked in the poll, Gallup found that Democrats had the most favorable opinion of Sanders, with 72 percent of respondents indicating a favorable view of the senator. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has been leading every national poll of the 2020 roster, earned the second-highest favorable rating from Democrats, at 69 percent…. Gallup wrote that, as it has periodically measured Democrats’ favorability ratings over the course of 2019, ‘the only notable change has been a decline in Biden’s favorable score,’ a pattern observed ‘among Democrats as well as U.S. adults overall.’”

Trump (R)(1): “Paralyzed by the God Emperor: As Democrats dither and bicker, the media gets punk’d again” [Salon]. “Donald Trump is not actually a Machiavellian political mastermind, whatever his supporters and many of his supposed enemies may believe. But he has a salesman’s cunning for identifying the weak spots and vulnerabilities of his marks, and is an expert bullshitter and gaslighter. That leaves his opponents confused and cautious amid his blitzkrieg of lies, as well as understandably fearful that whatever path they choose will end by leading them straight into Trump’s chasm. But every fear hides a wish, as a character in David Mamet’s play ‘Edmond’ puts it, and the Democratic Party’s fears of division and self-destruction have a noteworthy tendency to become reality.”

Trump (R)(2): “White Supremacists Warn Idealistic Trump Some Compromise Will Be Necessary To Achieve Their Goals” [The Onion]. “Stormfront spokesperson Marshall Riley [claimed] Trump’s fiery rhetoric and refusal to find common ground threatens to alienate the moderates who white supremacists rely on to advance their agenda.”

Warren: “Elizabeth Warren and Ashlee Marie Preston on Making Policy Intersectional” [Paper]. “In an interview with PAPER, Warren shared, “We need to build a lasting foundation for LGBTQ+ rights until each and every person feels safe to be who they are and to love who they love. As president, I would fight to extend protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, particularly transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, who continue to face discrimination in housing, education, employment, and health care”…. It’s Warren’s understanding of these issues that perhaps matters most to activists like [political commentator and trans activist Ashlee Marie Preston] who support her candidacy. “I needed to know that candidates had a firm understanding of intersectionality,” Preston clarifies.” • Despite the headline, Warren herself doesn’t use the word “intersectionality.” Preston projects that onto her.

* * *

“Sanders and Warren have a similar message, but they’re battling different weaknesses” [WaPo]. “Their trips highlighted that Warren and Sanders are betting their candidacies on divergent strategies, and they believe they can grow in different areas. Warren, faced with questions of electability, is trying to show her message appeals in unlikely places. Sanders, meanwhile, is fishing for votes among older Iowans more likely to support former vice president Joe Biden.” • Note the final paragraph: “Pocahontas” has national recognition.

2019

Pelosi on governing:

.@SpeakerPelosi to the @indystar: “I’m a left-wing San Francisco liberal. But that’s not the message for the country. And that’s not how you govern.” https://t.co/RSMF4Um8cS

— Susan Page (@SusanPage) July 20, 2019

“Top 4 Ways the Squad of young Congresswomen represent more Americans than Trump” [Informed Comment]. “If you look at that kind of identity politics, the Squad constituencies are similar in size to Trump’s core of evangelicals and the upper middle class and the rich. But the parents of these women were blue collar or service workers, and that is the real point. That’s 85% of the country. That is what this is really about. If they unite workers across race, the Squad could deprive Trump of one of his constituencies. Only 14% of blue collar workers who voted for Obama switched and voted for Trump. He promised them health care and better jobs. He hasn’t delivered. The Squad is appealing to them.” • Hopefully. The numbers are there, but the message needs to be delivered. (Note that the “voices” of the various identities have no incentive to deliver that larger, universal message at all. That’s why identity politics is all about allyship, as if the various identity siloes were sovereigns, and not solidarity.

Realignment and Legitimacy

“Think Republicans are disconnected from reality? It’s even worse among liberals” [Guardian]. “In a surprising new national survey, members of each major American political party were asked what they imagined to be the beliefs held by members of the other. The survey asked Democrats: “How many Republicans believe that racism is still a problem in America today?” Democrats guessed 50%. It’s actually 79%. The survey asked Republicans how many Democrats believe “most police are bad people”. Republicans estimated half; it’s really 15%…. what’s startling is the further finding that higher education does not improve a person’s perceptions – and sometimes even hurts it. In their survey answers, highly educated Republicans were no more accurate in their ideas about Democratic opinion than poorly educated Republicans. For Democrats, the education effect was even worse: the more educated a Democrat is, according to the study, the less he or she understands the Republican worldview.”

“In key Senate races, Democrats buck leftward tilt on issues” [Associated Press]. “Democrats need to gain at least three seats next year to capture the Senate majority, and the map is an uphill climb. GOP seats are at stake in 22 states, but Trump carried 20. The argument is over whether the better approach is bold liberalism or cautious centrism. In some contested states, if the leftward presidential tilt continues, the party’s nominee and Senate candidates could wind up contradicting on almost every major issue, from immigration and race to health care and education. Democratic consultants say that’s not a problem now: most voters at this stage are only broadly listening to whether candidates are on the same team.” • Democratic consulants like the five who run the DNC?

“John Nichols: It was not a dream, it was Wisconsin” [The Cap Times]. “The book, as readers of this newspaper are well aware, is a memoir and a history that reflects on the journey of David’s father, Elliott Maraniss, from 1930s radical to 1950s target of anti-communist zealots to his distinguished tenure at The Capital Times — where in the late 1970s and early 1980s he served as the editor…. “Elliott’s wanderings take him to an Iowa newspaper that grew out of a strike by union typographers. Later, he sees his revered new publisher, William T. Evjue of The Capital Times, in Madison, talking and laughing in his office with Carl Sandburg and Frank Lloyd Wright. Did we ever live in such an America? Did we just dream it?’ Of course, it existed. I grew up in it.” • Sigh…

Stats Watch

Chicago Fed National Activity Index, June 2019: “Judging by the national activity index, a Federal Reserve rate cut not would seem to pose much risk of economic overheating” [Econoday]. “This index is a giant cocktail of 85 different indicators with June so far including 51, yet the trend all year has been flat to negative.”

Housing: “Almost 40% of U.S. Homes Are ‘Free and Clear’ of a Mortgage” [Bloomberg]. “About 37% of U.S. households are “free and clear,” meaning they no longer have a home mortgage to pay, according to a Zillow data analysis. This number ticked upward after the Great Recession and over the past 10 years the share of homeowners paying off their mortgages has risen 5.5 percentage points… Mortgage characteristics vary by state and those with lower housing prices typically have higher rates of fully-paid mortgages. In 2017, the most recent available data, West Virginia had the highest share of “free and clear” ownership at 54%. Maryland and the District of Columbia were on the other end of the spectrum with rates of 27% and 24%, respectively.”

Retail: “How China’s Simi Mobile is conquering Africa, one country at a time” [South China Morning Post]. “In 2013 Chow established his new business in the northern African country, where he began importing and selling semi-knocked down (SKD) kits for smartphones. When the government introduced a rule restricting the sale of imported phones, Chow turned a potential set back into an opportunity…. Chow’s decision to establish a local factory in Ethiopia came around the same time that smartphone consumption was exploding in China, with domestic brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Huawei starting to dominate the market…. The decision by the Ethiopian government effectively blocked the hundreds of cheap Chinese-made knock-off phone brands that were eyeing the same market as Chow, enabling Simi to compete with fewer rivals by selling products produced by its own factory.” • So tariffs work, then? At least for Third World countries like our own?

Retail: “Due To A Poor Harvest Season, We Are Experiencing Shortages On Many Of Our Canned Vegetable Items” [Economic Collapse]. • Signage from Krogerts and Walmart; no mainstream coverage. I went looking for this after seeing this week’s Rapture Index; readers, have you seen similar?

The Bezzle: “Tesla Enters ‘Whistleblower Hell’ [The Drive]. “In light of [Tesla whistleblower Karl Hansen’s] disclosures of investigations on behalf of other whistleblowers, still more such lawsuits seem likely to surface. Indeed, recent years have brought an exponential increase not just in auto production but in legal filings against Musk, Tesla and its solar division, formerly called SolarCity. … Hansen, a former Senior Investigator for the Federal Maritime Commission, states that he continues to provide investigative assistance to former colleagues, meaning that “whistleblower hell” may soon join “production hell” and “service hell” in the Tesla lexicon — not just in reference to allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers, but in a ramp of whistleblower claims against the company.”

The Bezzle: “Elon Musk Wants to Read Your Brain” [OneZero]. “Eventually, Musk sees a future in which anyone could opt in to getting one of these interfaces and achieve what he calls a ‘symbiosis with artificial intelligence.’ Musk envisions an elective brain surgery that would be minimally invasive and take just a few hours, similar to a modern LASIK procedure. With such an interface, he says people will ‘have the option of merging with A.I.’ — an area of particular interest for Musk, who has warned about the existential threat that ever more powerful A.I. could eventually pose to humanity.” • Symbiosis is an interaction between organisms, so, creepy, dude. More: “While Musk focused on future use of the interface technology in human beings — and claims that the first human subjects could be part of a trial by the end of 2020 — the white paper the company released on Wednesday describes a small study in rats. In 19 surgeries, the robot was able to successfully place the threads 87% of the time in the rats’ brains.” • n=19. Really, Elon?

The Bezzle: “This Bill Could Destroy Uber’s Unsustainable Business Model” [Vice]. “Last week, the California Senate’s Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee held a hearing and passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which promises to make it harder for companies to claim workers are independent contractors and increase the operating expenses of Uber, Lyft, and other on-demand companies that already find themselves unable to turn a profit.” • Lol, “find themselves unable.”

Transportation: “Can We Use Special Sails To Bring Old Satellites Back Down To Earth?” [Universe Today]. “[E]very satellite has a shelf-life. What do we do with them when they’ve outlived their usefulness and devolve into simple, troublesome space debris? There are already almost 5,000 satellites orbiting Earth, and many of them are non-functioning space debris now, clogging up orbital paths for newer satellites…. There’s no shortage of potential solutions to this problem. Some exotic-sounding solutions involve harpoons, nets, magnets, even lasers. Now NASA has Purdue University-related startup Vestigo Aerospace money for a six month study that looks at using drag sails to de-orbit space junk, including satellites, spent rocket boosters, and other debris, safely…. [D]rag sails are designed to be built into a satellite and deployed at the end of their useful life.”

* * *

Isn’t a capitalist economy supposed to reinvest its capital? What am I missing?

Global corporate capex grew a mere 2% last year and Standard & Poor´s expect a similarly feeble 3% expansion in 2019. This is thin gruel after years of stimulus and low rates, and means that capex will not offer much help in sustaining the current economic cycle. pic.twitter.com/SarRvW2R9i

— Daniel Lacalle (@dlacalle_IA) July 21, 2019

Rapture Index: Closes up one on food supply. “Large food chains have posted notices that warn of a shortfall in canned vegetables.” [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 184. Remember that bringing on the rapture is a good thing.

The Biosphere

“Farmers Earn More From YouTube Than Their Crops” [Bloomberg]. • Interesting, but the headline is hype. The article give just a few examples, and YouTube is a long-tail phenomenon.

“Plant Parenthood” [The Baffler]. “Until I got into houseplants, my idea was that plants were best left in the wild, with our roles in their lives restricted to being good-hearted environmental stewards and reverent observers. Now, I have twenty-five houseplants, and despite some encounters with spider mites and clumsy repottings, they are all thriving. This isn’t because I followed a specific, top-secret recipe for plant success or because I have some kind of natural gift, a green thumb, if you will. It’s because I haven’t been consumed by the dreaded expectations of so-called ‘houseplant culture,’ which are fueled almost wholly by Instagram.”

Health Care

“More ACOs Taking Accountability Under MSSP Through ‘Pathways To Success’” [Seema Verma, Health Affairs]. “Accountable Care Organizations or “ACOs” represent one of the first and most widespread efforts to make this vision of value-based care a reality. ACOs are groups of health care providers that take responsibility for the total cost and quality of care for patients, and in exchange they can receive a portion of the savings they generate. Many providers view participating in an ACO as an opportunity to deliver better care in a more coordinated fashion…. I am especially encouraged to see that an increasing fraction of ACOs are taking on real accountability. Forty-eight percent of ACOs starting on July 1, 2019 are taking on risk for spending increases above their cost target; If they exceed this target, they will be on the hook to pay back to CMS up to at least 2 percent of their revenue or 1 percent of their cost target, and as noted below most of these ACOs will put at risk significantly greater amounts.” • Why am I thinking it won’t really be the ACO that ends up bearing the risk?

Black Injustice Tipping Point

“‘I Beat That N***r Like He Owed Me Money’: New Jersey Cop Faces Up to 40 Years for Federal Charges Including Using Excessive Force” [Atlanta Black Star]. “On the false police report charge, Toledo, 30, would work with fellow [Paterson, NJ] officers Matthew Torres, Eudy Ramos, Daniel Pent and Jonathan Bustios — who have also been charged in the probe along with two other officers not involved with Toledo — to stop and search vehicles without justification. The officers would loot the vehicles of valuables and cash, splitting it among themselves. And stealing money wasn’t just reserved for traffic stops. The newspaper also reported they’d stop and frisk people on the street and steal their money.” • So law enforcement for profit goes freelance.

Class Warfare

“Black Metal For The Oppressed” [Protean]. “Dawn Ray’d, a Terrorfest headliner, were soon joined by vocally antifascist bands like Closet Witch, Cloud Rat, Dead to a Dying World, and Despise You—all defying a persistent stereotype that casts black metal as a cesspool of reactionary white nationalist mysticism…. The media’s portrayal of metal only fueled the inferno of controversy, as metal fans and the media alike loved the idea that a musical genre might grow so powerful and pernicious that it could corrupt an entire generation. In part, this narrative helped to foster the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s and 1990s, where bogus stories of Satanic cults and ritual abuse led to an obsession with “subliminal messages” ostensibly found hidden in popular songs, metal and otherwise. The eventual upshot of this hysteria was debacles like the case of the “West Memphis Three,” wherein three teenagers were convicted of murdering three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas primarily because they wore Metallica t-shirts and were too poor to afford a superstar defense… Metal has expanded in recent years as antifascist and leftist revolutionary bands have entered the fold, building a loose community of tours, labels, festivals, and publications for a metal fandom hostile to far-right shock jocks.”

“The New Imperialist Structure” [Monthly Review]. “Contemporary capitalism is a capitalism of generalized monopolies. What I mean by that is that monopolies no longer form islands (important as they may be) in an ocean of corporations that are not monopolies—and consequently are relatively autonomous—but an integrated system, and consequently now tightly control all productive systems. Small and medium-sized companies, and even large ones that are not themselves formally owned by the oligopolies, are enclosed in networks of control established by the monopolies upstream and downstream. Consequently, their margin of autonomy has shrunk considerably. These production units have become subcontractors for the monopolies. This system of generalized monopolies is the result of a new stage in the centralization of capital in the countries of the triad that developed in the 1980s and ’90s. Simultaneously, these generalized monopolies dominate the world economy.” • Try this if you like your whiskey neat. Gets prolix toward the end, though. Schematic, too.

“The role of early career supports, continuous professional development, and learning communities in the teacher shortage” [Economic Policy Institute]. “The teacher shortage—the gap between the number of qualified teachers needed in the nation’s K–12 schools and the number available for hire in a given year—is an increasingly recognized but still poorly understood crisis. The shortage is discussed by the media and policymakers, and researchers have estimated its size (about 110,000 teachers short in the 2017–2018 school year, according to Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, and Carver-Thomas [2016]) and even quantified part of its cost. The shortage constitutes a crisis because of its negative effects on students, teachers, and the education system at large.” • It’s not a shortage if you don’t think the working class should be educated.

News of the Wired

“The plan to mine the world’s research papers” [Nature]. “Carl Malamud is on a crusade to liberate information locked up behind paywalls — and his campaigns have scored many victories. He has spent decades publishing copyrighted legal documents, from building codes to court records, and then arguing that such texts represent public-domain law that ought to be available to any citizen online. Sometimes, he has won those arguments in court. Now, the 60-year-old American technologist is turning his sights on a new objective: freeing paywalled scientific literature. And he thinks he has a legal way to do it. Over the past year, Malamud has — without asking publishers — teamed up with Indian researchers to build a gigantic store of text and images extracted from 73 million journal articles dating from 1847 up to the present day…. No one will be allowed to read or download work from the repository, because that would breach publishers’ copyright. Instead, Malamud envisages, researchers could crawl over its text and data with computer software, scanning through the world’s scientific literature to pull out insights without actually reading the text.” • That’s quite a workaround…

Not quite Jackpot-Ready

:

I can’t drink water until my water bottle updates pic.twitter.com/56eFgaFkl8

— pinguino

SDCC (@pinguino) July 15, 2019

* * *

Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, (c) how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal, and (d) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. Today’s plant (JN):

Make sure you take care of your pollinators in your garden. Pollinators are a public good.

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So do feel free to make a contribution today or any day. Here is why: Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of small donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals. So if you see something you especially appreciate, do feel free to click this donate button:

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2:00PM Water Cooler 7/22/2019

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[entertainmenttoday101]

The Music Industry: Treatment of Male Singers vs. Female Singers

The music industry, teams of people working together to enable artists to record, release, and perform music. Sounds simple, right? It's like that iceberg analogy. We only see the little that's above the water, not that huge chunk of ice under the water. With the music industry we only see the music and performances not what happens behind the scenes. But what kind of problems would arise within the music industry you ask? Quite a bit from money problems, rights to music, getting dropped from labels, not enough people listening and buying. The bigger problem though seems to be ignored by most, and that is the treatment of male singers versus female singers. 

Feminism is the social, political, and economic equality of sexes. Many people support, fight for, and protest that to make it happen, especially in the workplace. To most, at first thought the workplace would consist of office jobs, teaching jobs, etc. but how many people would consider the music industry as an immediate workplace? The music industry is a career for many and deserves all the rights as other places do and so do those who work for it. Just because singers are singers, doesn't mean that they should be treated less. They are human beings with real feelings. 

How we treat female artists compared to male artists is morally backwards. We praise men for doing certain actions or defend them to the grave but with women we bash them and never forgive them for something they've done. Let's start by looking at some popular singers or the most controversial singers.

Ariana Grande is this generation's pop princess dominating the charts with her high range outstanding voice on her hits that differentiated her from the Mariah Carey comparisons. Most people call her a "diva" but that's not the real issue. In July 2015, Ariana was caught on camera licking Donuts at a shop and was heard saying "I hate Americans." Of course it immediately upset many people. The first time she apologized people thought it was vague and missing the point of the problem with her actions because she was mostly focusing on obesity in America. It wasn't good enough for people so she later posted a video where she sincerely apologized and even acknowledged her weak original apology. But even today, 2 years later, people are still not letting her hear the end of it and for some, that's their only reason for hating her. The White House even cancelled the gig they had with her because of the mistake. It was a mistake that people can't let go and move on from.

Another action Ariana did was a few months ago when she posted a picture on Instagram and captioned it "the hardest working 23-year old in the world." https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2639485/singer-ariana-grande-faces-backlash-after-claiming-shes-the-hardest-working-23-year-old-human-being-on-earth/

Instantly she was criticized for it. Many people commented on the picture talking about all the other people who have it harder and have to work harder. Ariana never spoke up about it it's assumed that perhaps she was joking or being sarcastic. But again, to this day people take that as another reason to hate her and call her a "diva." 

Justin Bieber is probably considered this generation's pop prince. He was discovered on YouTube by Usher back in 2008-2009 and started off with a clean image but somewhere along the road as he got older and more popular, his behavior took a downward spiral. Justin started misbehaving and constantly doing things that upset or harmed others. He's been arrested a few times for speeding, drag racing, and driving while under the influence. These actions are very dangerous and have serious consequences because not only could it harm him, but it could injury others as well. But his fans don't care. They defend him by saying he's a human being, he made a mistake. Here's a video clip showing fans waiting for him after his arrest and supporting him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk9nOPI1ueM

People know that speeding is bad, they know drag-racing is worse, and they know that a DUI is extremely dangerous. It's not a simple mistake like accidentally cutting someone off. Justin knew what he was doing and still continued with it and his fans don't understand that. 

Justin had also visited the Anne Frank historic museum and offended most people when he left a message in the book stating that he hoped she "would have been a belieber." Not only is it incredibly arrogant of him to say that, but it also disregards the whole point of the museum, the history, her life, and her legacy. Yet his fans once again defended it as a mistake. Those are just two of his intensive record of bad behavior, and those two examples are worse than the scandals Ariana was caught in yet she was treated worse. They are both two of the most successful artists in this generation but Ariana was treated more harshly simply because she is a woman. If Justin or any other man did what she did, they would've found the donut situation funny and agreed with the Instagram caption. That probably came across as slightly sexist but that's how society points views. It seems to be expected. 

Sometimes artists aren't punished for their bad behavior and are still being rewarded, like Chris Brown. Chris Brown started off with an innocent image too until in 2009 he physically assaulted R&B singer, Rihanna. The pictures were so gruesome that some people couldn't even look at it. He served time and it's been the one thing still being held over him to this day. Domestic abuse isn't forgivable. You would think that after that incident it'd be the end but over the past years since then he's had a history of abuse and assault towards women. Once during an interview with Good Morning America he even stormed off backstage angry and smashed the dressing room mirror, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-lXVFOBRwk

You would think that after all of that, his career would plummet but no, people are still supporting him. In fact, they defend him calling all the incidents mistakes or the Rihanna incident "a thing in the past." A person who engages in domestic abuse will always be an abuser and the fact that his behavior continues that he can still get worse. If a female acted like this, she'd be viewed as crazy. Male artists can get away with dangerous stunts and bad behavior but women artists can't go a day without a non-harmful mistake being held over them. 

It doesn't just stop there. The over-sexualization of female artists grows and grows. Most female artists start off with clean, innocent images but then a few years they change and they're older and dress more mature, sophisticated, and somewhat revealing. But when that happens, people comment all the time that now they dress like "whores" and such. If they have provocative dance routines or provocative songs, then they're also deemed as "sluts" and a "bad role model." Then you have male artists who also start off with a clean, innocent image then transforms into an older image that also shows some skin and their songs also become more provocative, along with their videos and performances. But are they bashed? No. They're praised for their "hot bodies." They'll take their shirts off while on stage and he audience will swoon over them, but if a woman strips down then she's a whore. Jade Thirlwall is one of the members of the British girl group Little Mix and she discusses in their book about being over-sexualized. “In the beginning on The X Factor I think they expected us to be a band that wore skimpy outfits, a kind of womanly and sexy look, and at the time that wasn’t us, so we had a bit of a struggle trying to get across that that wasn’t what we were about” (Our World, pg 169).

Is it the females fault though? In their defense, many female artists explain that they're growing up and that is why they dress more revealing. It's a reality check though that not all women need to start showing skin as an indication of growing up. So it proposes the question, is their explanation genuine and true or are they forced to dress like that? “I remember we did an X Factor M&S advert and they put everyone in certain outfits, and when they got to us they wanted us to wear underwear. We were mortified. I was only eighteen, I couldn’t be on telly in a bra and knickers. I think on The X Factor they were used to girl bands being feminine and sexual, but that wasn’t us” (Thirlwall, pg. 169). Camila Cabello, a former member of the US girl group Fifth Harmony, explains that she felt over-sexualized while in the group, “Especially with being a girl group, there's been a lot of times where people have tried to sexualize us to just get more attention. Unfortunately, sex sells.” (Lenny Letter). So is it the industry's fault that female artists are more susceptible to harassment for the way they portray themselves? There was an article of Rolling Stone where the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer was on the cover, fully naked while covering their genitals and had their song lyrics written all over them. Instantly fans commented on the pictures with heart eye emoji’s, loving it and praising them. They are the same fans who in the past have slut-shamed the girl group, Fifth Harmony. Many people don’t understand the problem and either go along with it or ignore it.

Like Ariana Grande once said in an interview, “The incredible double standards that we [women] face on a daily basis, in the industry and just in the world, it’s shocking,” (dose.com). The music industry is much more than A&R’s, producers, singers, songwriters, CEO’s, etc. It’s not all peachy and keen. There is an obvious imbalance between the treatment between male and female singers and it’ll continue until more people take it seriously and fight just as hard to change it.

-Entertainment Today 101, June 28th, 2017. 3:36 pm.

[smoshblog-blog1]

2019 Grammys: The complete list of winners

The 61st annual Grammy awards held last night. The ceremony was dominated by female performers and presenters where Kacey Musgraves won album of the year and Cardi B became the first woman to win best rap album as a solo artist.   At the beginning of the show, Alicia Keys, the host, introduced “my sisters”: Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez. Messages of inspiration and hope continued throughout.   See the full list of winners below....   GENERAL Record of the Year: “I Like It” -- Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “The Joke” -- Brandi Carlile WINNER: “This Is America” -- Childish Gambino “God’s Plan” -- Drake “Shallow” -- Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper “All The Stars” -- Kendrick Lamar & SZA “Rockstar” -- Post Malone feat. 21 Savage “The Middle” -- Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey Album of the Year: Invasion of Privacy -- Cardi B By The Way, I Forgive You -- Brandi Carlile Scorpion -- Drake H.E.R. - H.E.R. Beerbongs & Bentleys -- Post Malone Dirty Computer -- Janelle Monáe WINNER: Golden Hour -- Kacey Musgraves Black Panther: The Album -- Various Artists Song of the Year: “All The Stars” -- Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA) “Boo’d Up” -- Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane, songwriters (Ella Mai) “God’s Plan” --  Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake) “In My Blood” --  Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes & Geoffrey Warburton, songwriters (Shawn Mendes) “The Joke” -- Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile) “The Middle” -- Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha & Anton Zaslavski, songwriters (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey) “Shallow” -- Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper) WINNER: “This Is America” --  Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino) Best New Artist: Chloe x Halle Luke Combs Greta Van Fleet H.E.R. WINNER: Dua Lipa Margo Price Bebe Rexha Jorja Smith POP Best Pop Solo Performance: “Colors" -- Beck “Havana (Live)” -- Camila Cabello “God Is A Woman” -- Ariana Grande WINNER: “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)” -- Lady Gaga “Better Now” -- Post Malone Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Fall in Line” -- Christina Aguilera feat. Demi Lovato “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” -- Backstreet Boys “'S Wonderful” -- Tony Bennett & Diana Krall WINNER: “Shallow” -- Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper “Girls Like You” -- Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B “Say Something” -- Justin Timberlake feat. Chris Stapleton “The Middle” -- Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Love is Here to Stay -- Tony Bennett & Diana Krall WINNER: My Way -- Willie Nelson Nat “King” Cole & Me -- Gregory Porter Standards (Deluxe) -- Seal The Music...The Mem’ries...The Magic! -- Barbra Streisand Best Pop Vocal Album: Camila -- Camila Cabello Meaning of Life -- Kelly Clarkson WINNER: Sweetener -- Ariana Grande Shawn Mendes -- Shawn Mendes Beautiful Trauma -- P!nk Reputation -- Taylor Swift DANCE/ELECTRONIC MUSIC Best Dance Recording: “Northern Soul” -- Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford “Ultimatum” -- Disclosure feat. Fatoumata Diawara “Losing It” -- Fisher WINNER: “Electricity” -- Silk City & Dua Lipa feat. Diplo & Mark Ronson “Ghost Voices” -- Virtual Self Best Dance/Electronic Album: Singularity -- Jon Hopkins WINNER: Woman Worldwide -- Justice Treehouse -- Sofi Tukker Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides -- SOPHIE Lune Rouge -- TOKiMONSTA CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: The Emancipation Procrastination --  Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah WINNER: Steve Gadd Band -- Steve Gadd Band Modern Lore -- Julian Lage Laid Black -- Marcus Miller Protocol 4 -- Simon Phillips ROCK Best Rock Performance: “Four Out Of Five” -- Arctic Monkeys WINNER: “When Good Does Bad” -- Chris Cornell “Made An America” -- THE FEVER 333 “Highway Tune” -- Greta Van Fleet “Uncomfortable -- Halestorm Best Metal Performance: “Condemned to the Gallows” -- Between The Buried And Me “Honeycomb” -- Deafheaven WINNER: “Electric Messiah” -- High on Fire “Betrayer” -- Trivium “On My Teeth” -- Underoath Best Rock Song: “Black Smoke Rising” -- Jacob Thomas Kiszka, Joshua Michael Kiszka, Samuel Francis Kiszka & Daniel Robert Wagner, songwriters (Greta Van Fleet) “Jumpsuit” -- Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots) “MANTRA” -- Jordan Fish, Matthew Kean, Lee Malia, Matthew Nicholls & Oliver Sykes, songwriters (Bring Me The Horizon) WINNER: “Masseduction” -- Jack Antonoff & Annie Clark, songwriters (St. Vincent) “Rats” -- Tom Dalgety & A Ghoul Writer, songwriters (Ghost) Best Rock Album: Rainier Fog -- Alice in Chains M A N I A -- Fall Out Boy Prequelle -- Ghost WINNER: From the Fires -- Greta Van Fleet Pacific Daydream -- Weezer ALTERNATIVE Best Alternative Music Album: Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino -- Arctic Monkeys WINNER: Colors -- Beck Utopia -- Björk American Utopia -- David Byrne Masseduction -- St. Vincent R&B Best R&B Performance: “Long As I Live” -- Toni Braxton “Summer” -- The Carters “Y O Y” - Lalah Hathaway WINNER: “Best Part” -- H.E.R. feat. Daniel Caesar “First Began” -- PJ Morton Best Traditional R&B Performance: WINNER (TIE): “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand” -- Leon Bridges “Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight” -- Bettye LaVette “Honest” -- MAJOR. WINNER (TIE): “How Deep Is Your Love” -- PJ Morton feat. Yebba “Made for Love” -- Charlie Wilson feat. Lalah Hathaway Best R&B Song: WINNER: “Boo’d Up” -- Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane, songwriters (Ella Mai) “Come Through and Chill” -- Jermaine Cole, Miguel Pimentel & Salaam Remi, songwriters (Miguel feat. J. Cole & Salaam Remi) “Feels Like Summer” -- Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino) “Focus” -- Darhyl Camper Jr, H.E.R. & Justin Love, songwriters (H.E.R.) “Long As I Live” -- Paul Boutin, Toni Braxton & Antonio Dixon, songwriters (Toni Braxton) Best Urban Contemporary Album: WINNER: Everything Is Love -- The Carters The Kids Are Alright -- Chloe x Halle Chris Dave And The Drumhedz -- Chris Dave And The Drumhedz War & Leisure -- Miguel Ventriloquism -- Meshell Ndegeocello Best R&B Album: Love & Cigarettes -- Toni Braxton Good Thing -- Leon Bridges Honestly -- Lalah Hathaway WINNER: H.E.R. -- H.E.R. Gumbo Unplugged (Live) -- PJ Morton RAP Best Rap Performance: “Be Careful” -- Cardi B “Nice for What” -- Drake WINNER (TIE): “King’s Dead” -- Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake WINNER (TIE): “Bubblin” -- Anderson .Paak “Sicko Mode” -- Travis Scott, Drake, Big Hawk & Swae Lee Best Rap/Sung Performance: “Like I Do” -- Christina Aguilera feat. GoldLink “Pretty Little Fears” -- 6lack feat. J. Cole WINNER: “This Is America” -- Childish Gambino “All The Stars” -- Kendrick Lamar & SZA “Rockstar” -- Post Malone feat. 21 Savage Best Rap Song: WINNER: “God’s Plan” -- Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake) “King’s Dead” -- Kendrick Duckworth, Samuel Gloade, James Litherland, Johnny McKinzie, Mark Spears, Travis Walton, Nayvadius Wilburn & Michael Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake) “Lucky You” -- R. Fraser, G. Lucas, M. Mathers, M. Samuels & J. Sweet, songwriters (Eminem feat. Joyner Lucas) “Sicko Mode” -- Khalif Brown, Rogét Chahayed, BryTavious Chambers, Mike Dean, Mirsad Dervic, Kevin Gomringer, Tim Gomringer, Aubrey Graham, John Edward Hawkins, Chauncey Hollis, Jacques Webster, Ozan Yildirim & Cydel Young, songwriters (Travis Scott, Drake, Big Hawk & Swae Lee) “Win” -- K. Duckworth, A. Hernandez, J. McKinzie, M. Samuels & C. Thompson, songwriters (Jay Rock) Best Rap Album: WINNER: Invasion of Privacy -- Cardi B Swimming -- Mac Miller Victory Lap -- Nipsey Hussle Daytona -- Pusha T Astroworld -- Travis Scott COUNTRY Best Country Solo Performance: “Wouldn’t It Be Great” -- Loretta Lynn “Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters” -- Maren Morris WINNER: “Butterflies” -- Kacey Musgraves “Millionaire” -- Chris Stapleton “Parallel Line” -- Keith Urban Best Country Duo/Group Performance “Shoot Me Straight” -- Brothers Osborne WINNER: “Tequila” -- Dan + Shay “When Someone Stops Loving You” -- Little Big Town “Dear Hate” -- Maren Morris feat. Vince Gill “Meant To Be” -- Bebe Rehxa & Florida Georgia Line Best Country Song: “Break Up In The End” -- Jessie Jo Dillon, Chase McGill & Jon Nite, songwriters (Cole Swindell) “Dear Hate” -- Tom Douglas, David Hodges & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris Featuring Vince Gill) “I Lived It” -- Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley & Ben Hayslip, songwriters (Blake Shelton) WINNER: “Space Cowboy” -- Luke Laird, Shane McAnally & Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves) “Tequila” -- Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds & Dan Smyers, songwriters (Dan + Shay) “When Someone Stops Loving You” -- Hillary Lindsey, Chase McGill & Lori McKenna, songwriters (Little Big Town) Best Country Album: Unapologetically -- Kelsea Ballerini Port Saint Joe -- Brothers Osborne Girl Going Nowhere -- Ashley McBryde WINNER: Golden Hour -- Kacey Musgraves From A Room: Volume 2 -- Chris Stapleton NEW AGE Best New Age Album: Hiraeth -- Lisa Gerrard & David Kuckhemann Beloved -- Snatam Kaur WINNER: Opium Moon -- Opium Moon Molecules Of Motion -- Steve Roach Moku Maluhia - Peaceful Island --  Jim Kimo West JAZZ Best Improvised Jazz Solo: “Some of That Sunshine” -- Regina Carter, soloist WINNER: “Don’t Fence Me In” -- John Daversa, soloist “We See” -- Fred Hersch, soloist “De-Dah” -- Brad Mehldau, soloist “Cadenas” -- Miguel Zenón, soloist Best Jazz Vocal Album: My Mood Is You -- Freddy Cole The Questions -- Kurt Elling The Subject Tonight Is Love -- Kate McGarry with Keith Ganz & Gary Versace If You Really Want -- Raul Midón with The Metropole Orkest Conducted by Vince Mendoza WINNER: The Window -- Cécile McLorin Savant Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Diamond Cut -- Tia Fuller Live In Europe -- Fred Hersch Trio Seymour Reads The Constitution! -- Brad Mehldau Trio Still Dreaming -- Joshua Redman, Ron Miles, Scott Colley & Brian Blade WINNER: Emanon -- The Wayne Shorter Quartet Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: All About That Basie -- The Count Basie Orchestra Directed by Scott Barnhart WINNER: American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom -- John Daversa Big Band Featuring DACA Artists Presence -- Orrin Evans And The Captain Black Big Band All Can Work -- John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble Barefoot Dances And Other Visions -- Jim McNeely & The Frankfurt Radio Big Band Best Latin Jazz Album: Heart of Brazil -- Eddie Daniels WINNER: Back to the Sunset -- Dafnis Preito Big Band West Side Story Reimagined -- Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band Cinque -- Elio Villafranca Yo Soy La Tradición -- Miguel Zenón Featuring Spektral Quartet GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC Best Gospel Performance/Song: “You Will Win” -- Allen Carr & Jekalyn Carr, songwriters (Jekalyn Carr) “Won’t He Do It” -- Koryn Hawthorne, songwriter (Koryn Hawthorne) WINNER: “Never Alone” -- Kirk Franklin & Victoria Kelly, songwriters (Tori Kelly feat. Kirk Franklin) “Cycles” -- Jonathan McReynolds, songwriter (Jonathan McReynolds feat. DOE) “A Great Work” -- Aaron W. Lindsey, Alvin Richardson & Brian Courtney Wilson, songwriters (Brian Courtney Wilson) Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: “Reckless Love” -- Cory Asbury, Caleb Culver & Ran Jackson, songwriters (Cory Asbury) WINNER: “You Say” -- Lauren Daigle, Jason Ingram & Paul Mabury, songwriters (Lauren Daigle) “Joy.” -- Ben Glover, Matt Hales, Stephen Blake Kanicka, Seth Moslely, Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone & Tedd Tjornhom, songwriters (for KING AND COUNTRY) “Grace Got You” -- David Garcia, Ben Glover, MercyMe, Solomon Olds & John Reuben, songwriters (MercyMe feat. John Reuben) “Known” -- Ethan Hulse, Jordan Sapp & Tauren Wells, songwriters (Tauren Wells) Best Gospel Album: One Nation Under God -- Jekalyn Carr WINNER: Hiding Place -- Tori Kelly Make Room -- Jonathan McReynolds The Other Side -- The Walls Group A Great Work -- Brian Courtney Wilson Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: WINNER: Look Up Child -- Lauren Daigle Hallelujah Here Below -- Elevation Worship Living With A Fire -- Jesus Culture Surrounded -- Michael W. Smith Survivor: Live From Harding Prison -- Zach Williams Best Roots Gospel Album: WINNER: Unexpected -- Jason Crabb Clear Skies -- Ernie Haase & Signature Sound Favorite: Revisited By Request -- The Isaacs Still Standing -- The Martins Love Love Love -- Gordon Mote LATIN Best Latin Pop Album: Prometo -- Pablo Alboran WINNER: Sincera -- Claudia Brant Musas (Un Homenaje Al Folclore Latinoamericano En Manos De Los Macorinos), Vol. 2 -- Natalia Lafourcade 2:00 AM -- Raquel Sofía Vives -- Carlos Vives Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: Claroscura -- Aterciopelados Coastcity -- COASTCITY Encanto Tropical -- Monsieur Periné Gourmet -- Orishas WINNER: Aztlán -- Zoé Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): Primero Soy Mexicana -- Angela Aguilar Mitad Y Mitad -- Calibre 50 Totalmente Juan Gabriel Vol. II -- Aida Cuevas Cruzando Borders -- Los Texmaniacs Leyendas De Mi Pueblo -- Mariachi Sol De Mexico De Jose Hernandez WINNER: ¡México Por Siempre! -- Luis Miguel Best Tropical Latin Album: Pa' Mi Gente -- Charlie Aponte Legado -- Formell Y Los Van Van Orquesta Akokán -- Orquesta Akokán Ponle Actitud -- Felipe Peláez WINNER: Anniversary -- Spanish Harlem Orchestra AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC Best American Roots Performance: “Kick Rocks” -- Sean Ardoin “Saint James Infirmary Blues” -- Jon Batiste WINNER: “The Joke” -- Brandi Carlile “All On My Mind” -- Anderson East “Last Man Standing -- Willie Nelson Best American Roots Song: “All the Trouble” -- Waylon Payne, Lee Ann Womack & Adam Wright, songwriters (Lee Ann Womack) “Build a Bridge” --  Jeff Tweedy, songwriter (Mavis Staples) WINNER: “The Joke” -- Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile) “Knockin’ on Your Screen Door” -- Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine) “Summer’s End” -- Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine) Best Americana Album: WINNER: By The Way, I Forgive You -- Brandi Carlile Things Have Changed -- Bettye LaVette The Tree Of Forgiveness -- John Prine The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone -- Lee Ann Womack One Drop Of Truth -- The Wood Brothers Best Bluegrass Album: Portraits In Fiddles -- Mike Barnett Sister Sadie II -- Sister Sadie Rivers And Roads -- Special Consensus WINNER: The Travelin’ McCourys - The Travelin’ McCourys North Of Despair -- Wood & Wire Best Traditional Blues Album: Something Smells Funky ‘Round Here -- Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio Benton County Relic -- Cedric Burnside WINNER: The Blues Is Alive and Well -- Buddy Guy No Mercy In This Land -- Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite Don't You Feel My Leg (The Naughty Bawdy Blues Of Blue Lu Barker) -- Maria Muldaur Best Contemporary Blues Album: WINNER: Please Don’t Be Dead -- Fantastic Negrito Here In Babylon -- Teresa James And The Rhythm Tramps Cry No More -- Danielle Nicole Out Of The Blues -- Boz Scaggs Victor Wainwright And The Train -- Victor Wainwright And The Train Best Folk Album: Whistle Down The Wind -- Joan Baez Black Cowboys -- Dom Flemons Rifles & Rosary Beads -- Mary Gauthier Weed Garden -- Iron & Wine WINNER: All Ashore -- Punch Brothers Best Regional Roots Music Album: Kreole Rock & Soul -- Sean Ardoin Spyboy -- Cha Wa Aloha From Na Hoa -- Na Hoa WINNER: No 'Ane'i -- Kalani Pe'a Mewasinsational - Cree Round Dance Songs -- Young Spirit REGGAE Best Reggae Album: As The World Turns -- Black Uhuru Reggae Forever -- Etana Rebellion Rises -- Ziggy Marley A Matter Of Time -- Protoje WINNER: 44/876 -- Sting & Shaggy WORLD MUSIC Best World Music Album: Deran -- Bombino Fenfo -- Fatoumata Diawara Black Times -- Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 WINNER: Freedom -- Soweto Gospel Choir The Lost Songs Of World War II -- Yiddish Glory CHILDREN’S Best Children’s Album: WINNER: All the Sounds -- Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats Building Blocks -- Tim Kubart Falu’s Bazaar -- Falu Giants Of Science -- The Pop Ups The Nation Of Imagine -- Frank & Deane SPOKEN WORD Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry Audio Books & Storytelling): Accessory to War -- Courtney B. Vance (Neil deGrasse Tyson & Avis Lang) Calypso -- David Sedaris (David Sedaris) Creative Quest -- Questlove WINNER: Faith - A Journey for All -- Jimmy Carter The Last Black Unicorn -- Tiffany Haddish COMEDY Best Comedy Album: Annihilation -- Patton Oswalt WINNER: Equanimity And The Bird Revelation -- Dave Chappelle Noble Ape -- Jim Gaffigan Standup For Drummers -- Jim Gaffigan Tamborine -- Chris Rock MUSICAL THEATER Best Musical Theater Album: WINNER: The Band’s Visit -- Etai Benson, Adam Kantor, Katrina Lenk & Ari'el Stachel, principal soloists; Dean Sharenow & David Yazbek, producers; David Yazbek, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast) Carousel -- Renee Fleming, Alexander Gemignani, Joshua Henry, Lindsay Mendez & Jessie Mueller, principal soloists; Steven Epstein, producer (Richard Rodgers, composer; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist) (2018 Broadway Cast) Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert -- Sara Bareilles, Alice Cooper, Ben Daniels, Brandon Victor Dixon, Erik Grönwall, Jin Ha, John Legend, Norm Lewis & Jason Tam, principal soloists; Harvey Mason, Jr., producer (Andrew Lloyd-Webber, composer; Tim Rice, lyricist) (Original Television Cast) My Fair Lady -- Lauren Ambrose, Norbert Leo Butz & Harry Hadden-Paton, principal soloists; Andre Bishop, Van Dean, Hattie K. Jutagir, David Lai, Adam Siegel & Ted Sperling, producers (Frederick Loewe, composer; Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist) (2018 Broadway Cast) Once On This Island -- Phillip Boykin, Merle Dandridge, Quentin Earl Darrington, Hailey Kilgore, Kenita R. Miller, Alex Newell, Isaac Powell & Lea Salonga, principal soloists; Lynn Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Ken Davenport, Stephen Flaherty & Elliot Scheiner, producers (Stephen Flaherty, composer; Lynn Ahrens, lyricist) (New Broadway Cast) MUSIC FOR VISUAL MEDIA Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: Call Me By Your Name -- Various Artists Deadpool 2 -- Various Artists WINNER: The Greatest Showman -- Various Artists Lady Bird -- Various Artists Stranger Things -- Various Artists Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: WINNER: Black Panther -- Ludwig Göransson, composer Blade Runner 2049 -- Benjamin Wallfisch & Hans Zimmer, composers Coco -- Michael Giacchino, composer The Shape Of Water -- Alexandre Desplat, composer Star Wars: The Last Jedi -- John Williams, composer Best Song Written For Visual Media: “All The Stars” -- Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Alexander William Shuckburgh, Mark Anthony Spears & Anthony Tiffith, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar & SZA) “Mystery Of Love” -- Sufjan Stevens, songwriter (Sufjan Stevens) “Remember Me” -- Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Miguel Featuring Natalia Lafourcade) WINNER: “Shallow” -- Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper) “This Is Me” -- Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble) COMPOSING/ARRANGING Best Instrumental Composition: WINNER: “Blut Und Boden (Blood And Soil)” -- Terence Blanchard, composer (Terence Blanchard) “Chrysalis” -- Jeremy Kittel, composer (Kittel & Co.) “Infinity War” -- Alan Silvestri, composer (Alan Silvestri) “Mine Mission” -- John Powell & John Williams, composers (John Powell & John Williams) “The Shape Of Water” -- Alexandre Desplat, composer (Alexandre Desplat) Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella: “Batman Theme” (TV) -- Randy Waldman & Justin Wilson, arrangers (Randy Waldman feat. Wynton Marsalis) “Change The World” -- Mark Kibble, arranger (Take 6) “Madrid Finale” -- John Powell, arranger (John Powell) “The Shape Of Water” -- Alexandre Desplat, arranger (Alexandre Desplat) WINNER: “Stars and Stripes Forever” -- John Daversa, arranger (John Daversa Big Band feat. DACA Artists) Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: “It Was A Very Good Year” -- Matt Rollings & Kristin Wilkinson, arrangers (Willie Nelson) “Jolene” -- Dan Pugach & Nicole Zuraitis, arrangers (Dan Pugach) “Mona Lisa” -- Vince Mendoza, arranger (Gregory Porter) “Niña” -- Gonzalo Grau, arranger (Magos Herrera & Brooklyn Rider) WINNER: “Spiderman Theme” -- Randy Waldman, arranger (Randy Waldman feat. Take 6 & Chris Potter) PACKAGE Best Recording Package: Be The Cowboy -- Mary Banas, art director (Mitski) Love Yourself: Tear -- HuskyFox, art director (BTS) WINNER: Masseduction -- Willo Perron, art director (St. Vincent) The Offering -- Qing-Yang Xiao, art director (The Chairman) Well Kept Thing -- Adam Moore, art director (Foxhole) Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Appetite For Destruction (Locked N’ Loaded Box) -- Arian Buhler, Charles Dooher, Jeff Fura, Scott Sandler & Matt Taylor, art directors (Guns N’ Roses) I’ll Be Your Girl -- Carson Ellis, Jeri Heiden & Glen Nakasako, art directors (The Decemberists) Pacific Northwest ‘73-74’: The Complete Recordings -- Lisa Glines, Doran Tyson & Roy Henry Vickers, art directors (Grateful Dead) WINNER: Squeeze Box: The Complete Works Of “Weird Al” Yankovic -- Meghan Foley, Annie Stoll & Al Yankovic, art directors (“Weird Al” Yankovic) Too Many Bad Habits -- Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors (Johnny Nicholas) NOTES Best Album Notes: Alpine Dreaming: The Helvetia Records Story, 1920-1924 -- James P. Leary, album notes writer (Various Artists) 4 Banjo Songs, 1891-1897: Foundational Recordings Of America’s Iconic Instrument -- Richard Martin & Ted Olson, album notes writers (Charles A. Asbury) The 1960 Time Sessions -- Ben Ratliff, album notes writer (Sonny Clark Trio) The Product Of Our Souls: The Sounds And Sway Of James Reese Europe’s Society Orchestra -- David Gilbert, album notes writer (Various Artists) Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (Deluxe Edition) -- Amanda Petrusich, album notes writer (Bob Dylan) WINNER: Voices of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris -- David Evans, album notes writer (Various Artists) HISTORICAL Best Historical Album: Any Other Way -- Rob Bowman, Douglas Mcgowan, Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, compilation producers; Jeff Lipton, mastering engineer (Jackie Shane) At The Louisiana Hayride Tonight… -- Martin Hawkins, compilation producer; Christian Zwarg, mastering engineer (Various Artists) Battleground Korea: Songs And Sounds Of America’s Forgotten War -- Hugo Keesing, compilation producer; Christian Zwarg, mastering engineer (Various Artists) A Rhapsody In Blue - The Extraordinary Life Of Oscar Levant -- Robert Russ, compilation producer; Andreas K. Meyer & Rebekah Wineman, mastering engineers (Oscar Levant) WINNER: Voices of Mississippi: Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris -- William Ferris, April Ledbetter & Steven Lance Ledbetter, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists) PRODUCTION, NON-CLASSICAL Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn’t Do -- Ryan Freeland & Kenneth Pattengale, engineers; Kim Rosen, mastering engineer (The Milk Carton Kids) WINNER: Colors -- Julian Burg, Serban Ghenea, David “Elevator” Greenbaum, John Hanes, Beck Hansen, Greg Kurstin, Florian Lagatta, Cole M.G.N., Alex Pasco, Jesse Shatkin, Darrell Thorp & Cassidy Turbin, engineers; Chris Bellman, Tom Coyne, Emily Lazar & Randy Merrill, mastering engineers (Beck) Earthtones -- Robbie Lackritz, engineer; Philip Shaw Bova, mastering engineer (Bahamas) Head Over Heels -- Nathaniel Alford, Jason Evigan, Chris Galland, Tom Gardner, Patrick “P-Thugg” Gemayel, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Tony Hoffer, Derek Keota, Ian Kirkpatrick, David Macklovitch, Amber Mark, Manny Marroquin, Vaughn Oliver, Chris “TEK” O’Ryan, Morgan Taylor Reid & Gian Stone, engineers; Chris Gehringer & Michelle Mancini, mastering engineers (Chromeo) Voicenotes -- Manny Marroquin & Charlie Puth, engineers; David Kutch, mastering engineer (Charlie Puth) Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Boi-1da Larry Klein Linda Perry Kanye West WINNER: Pharrell Williams Best Remixed Recording: “Audio (CID Remix) -- CID, remixer (LSD) “How Long (EDX’s Dubai Skyline Remix)” -- Maurizio Colella, remixer (Charlie Puth) “Only Road (Cosmic Gate Remix)” -- Stefan Bossems & Claus Terhoeven, remixers (Gabriel & Dresden feat. Sub Teal) “Stargazing (Kaskade Remix)” -- Kaskade, remixer (Kygo feat. Justin Jesso) WINNER: “Walking Away (Mura Masa Remix)” -- Alex Crossan, remixer (Haim) PRODUCTION, IMMERSIVE AUDIO Best Immersive Audio Album: WINNER: Eye In The Sky - 35th Anniversary Edition -- Alan Parsons, surround mix engineer; Dave Donnelly, PJ Olsson & Alan Parsons, surround mastering engineers; Alan Parsons, surround producer (The Alan Parsons Project) Folketoner -- Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (Anne Karin Sundal-Ask & Det Norske Jentekor) Seven Words From The Cross -- Daniel Shores, surround mix engineer; Daniel Shores, surround mastering engineer; Dan Merceruio, surround producer (Matthew Guard & Skylark) Sommerro: Ujamaa & The Iceberg -- Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (Ingar Heine Bergby, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Choir) Symbol -- Prashant Mistry & Ronald Prent, surround mix engineers; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer, Prashant Mistry & Ronald Prent, surround producers (Engine-Earz Experiment) PRODUCTION, CLASSICAL Best Engineered Album, Classical: Bates: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs -- Mark Donahue & Dirk Sobotka, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edwards Parks, Jessica E. Jones & Santa Fe Opera Orchestra) Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 -- Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) John Williams At The Movies -- Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers; Keith O. Johnson, mastering engineer (Jerry Junkin & Dallas Winds) Liquid Melancholy - Clarinet Music Of James M. Stephenson -- Bill Maylone & Mary Mazurek, engineers; Bill Maylone, mastering engineer (John Bruce Yeh) WINNER: Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 -- Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra) Visions And Variations -- Tom Caulfield, engineer; Jesse Lewis, mastering engineer (A Far Cry) Producer Of The Year, Classical: WINNER: Blanton Alspaugh David Frost Elizabeth Ostrow Judith Sherman Dirk Sobotka CLASSICAL Best Orchestral Performance: Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 -- Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 & Symphony No. 4 -- Thomas Dausgaard, conductor (Seattle Symphony) Ruggles, Stucky & Harbison: Orchestral Works -- David Alan Miller, conductor (National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic) Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 -- Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony) WINNER: Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 -- Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra) Best Opera Recording: Adams: Doctor Atomic -- John Adams, conductor; Aubrey Allicock, Julia Bullock, Gerald Finley & Brindley Sherratt; Friedemann Engelbrecht, producer (BBC Symphony Orchestra; BBC Singers) WINNER: Bates: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs -- Michael Christie, conductor; Sasha Cooke, Jessica E. Jones, Edward Parks, Garrett Sorenson & Wei Wu; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra) Lully: Alceste -- Christophe Rousset, conductor; Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro & Judith Van Wanroij; Maximilien Ciup, producer (Les Talens Lyriques; Choeur De Chambre De Namur) Strauss, R.: Der Rosenkavalier -- Sebastian Weigle, conductor; Renée Fleming, El?na Garan?a, Günther Groissböck & Erin Morley; David Frost, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus) Verdi: Rigoletto -- Constantine Orbelian, conductor; Francesco Demuro, Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Nadine Sierra; Vilius Keras & Aleksandra Keriene, producers (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra; Men Of The Kaunas State Choir) Best Choral Performance: Chesnokov: Teach Me Thy Statutes -- Vladimir Gorbik, conductor (Mikhail Davydov & Vladimir Krasov; PaTRAM Institute Male Choir) Kastalsky: Memory Eternal -- Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir) WINNER: McLoskey: Zealot Canticles -- Donald Nally, conductor (Doris Hall-Gulati, Rebecca Harris, Arlen Hlusko, Lorenzo Raval & Mandy Wolman; The Crossing) Rachmaninov: The Bells -- Mariss Jansons, conductor; Peter Dijkstra, chorus master (Oleg Dolgov, Alexey Markov & Tatiana Pavlovskaya; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks) Seven Words From The Cross -- Matthew Guard, conductor (Skylark) Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: WINNER: Anderson, Laurie: Landfall -- Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet Beethoven, Shostakovich & Bach -- The Danish String Quartet Blueprinting -- Aizuri Quartet Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Concerto for Two Pianos -- Leif Ove Andsnes & Marc-Andre Hamelin Visions And Variations -- A Far Cry Best Classical Instrumental Solo: “Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2” -- Yuja Wang; Simon Rattle, conductor (Berliner Philharmoniker) Biber: The Mystery Sonatas -- Christina Day Martinson; Martin Pearlman, conductor (Boston Baroque) Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46; Violin Concerto No. 1 In G Minor, Op. 26 -- Joshua Bell (The Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields) Glass: Three Pieces In The Shape Of A Square -- Craig Morris WINNER: “Kernis: Violin Concerto” -- James Ehnes; Ludovic Morlot, conductor (Seattle Symphony) Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: ARC -- Anthony Roth Costanzo; Jonathan Cohen, conductor (Les Violons Du Roy) The Handel Album -- Philippe Jaroussky; Artaserse, ensemble Mirages -- Sabine Devieilhe; François-Xavier Roth, conductor (Alexandre Tharaud; Marianne Crebassa & Jodie Devos; Les Siècles) Schubert: Winterreise -- Randall Scarlata; Gilbert Kalish, accompanist WINNER: Songs of Orpheus - Monteverdi, Caccini, D’India & Landi -- Karim Sulayman; Jeannette Sorrell, conductor; Apollo’s Fire, ensembles Best Classical Compendium: Fuchs: Piano Concerto ‘Spiritualist’; Poems Of Life; Glacier; Rush -- JoAnn Falletta, conductor; Tim Handley, producer Gold -- The King’s Singers; Nigel Short, producer The John Adams Edition -- Simon Rattle, conductor; Christoph Franke, producer John Williams At The Movies -- Jerry Junkin, conductor; Donald J. McKinney, producer WINNER: Vaughan Williams: Piano Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Serenade To Music; Flos Campi -- Peter Oundjian, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Bates: The (R)evolution Of Steve Jobs -- Mason Bates, composer; Mark Campbell, librettist (Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edwards Parks, Jessica E. Jones & Santa Fe Opera Orchestra) “Du Yun: Air Glow” -- Du Yun, composer (International Contemporary Ensemble) Heggie: Great Scott -- Jake Heggie, composer; Terrence McNally, librettist (Patrick Summers, Manuel Palazzo, Mark Hancock, Michael Mayes, Rodell Rosel, Kevin Burdette, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nathan Gunn, Frederica von Stade, Ailyn Pérez, Joyce DiDonato, Dallas Opera Chorus & Orchestra) WINNER: “Kernis: Violin Concerto” -- Aaron Jay Kernis, composer (James Ehnes, Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony) “Mazzoli: Vespers For Violin” -- Missy Mazzoli, composer (Olivia De Prato) MUSIC VIDEO/FILM Best Music Video: “Apes***” -- Ricky Saiz, video director; Melodie Buchris, Natan Schottenfels & Erinn Williams, video producers (The Carters) WINNER: “This Is America” -- Hiro Murai, video director; Ibra Ake, Jason Cole & Fam Rothstein, video producers (Childish Gambino) “I’m Not Racist” -- Joyner Lucas & Ben Proulx, video directors; Joyner Lucas, video producer (Joyner Lucas) “PYNK” -- Emma Westenberg, video director; Justin Benoliel & Whitney Jackson, video producers (Janelle Monáe) “MUMBO JUMBO” -- Marco Prestini, video director; Sara Nassim, video producer (Tierra Whack) Best Music Film: Life in 12 Bars -- Lili Fini Zanuck, video director; John Battsek, Scooter Weintraub, Larry Yelen & Lili Fini Zanuck, video producers (Eric Clapton) Whitney -- Kevin Macdonald, video director; Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn & Lisa Erspamer, video producers (Whitney Houston) WINNER: Quincy -- Alan Hicks & Rashida Jones, video directors; Paula DuPré Pesmen, video producer (Quincy Jones) Itzhak -- Alison Chernick, video director; Alison Chernick, video producer (Itzhak Perlman) The King -- Eugene Jarecki, video director; Christopher Frierson, Georgina Hill, David Kuhn & Christopher St. John, video producers (Elvis Presley) Read the full article

[allthegirlsanddboys]

Female Artists We’re Sleepin’ On

Hi all!

So I know I never post anything personal on this page. I usually just come on here, reblog a few things and I’m out but I want to start something new.

My favorite thing, in the entire world, to talk about is music. I’m an avid music fan with a lot of knowledge about the industry. I love music and it’s industry so much that I’m actually going to school for it. In December, I’ll be graduating from my University with a B.S. in Recording Industry and a concentration in Music Business.

One topic I’ve been dying to share my opinion on are female artists. I’ve always wanted to write a piece listing the female artists I feel are being overlooked or artists who haven’t necessarily been overlooked but may be on the rise at the moment.

My obsession with female voices and artists began when I was young. For whatever reason, I have always gravitated towards female artists and what they bring to the table regardless of genre. The first albums I ever owned were Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me, The Dixie Chicks’ Home and JoJo’s self-titled debut album. All very different albums and artists, yet inherently female.

So here I am still listening and supporting female artists when it sort of feels like no one else is. I don’t know if any of you have seen this article by Andrew Unterberger for Billboard. It’s titled, “Where Are the Female Pop Stars at the Top of the Charts?” and in this article, Unterberger points out that the last female artist to bow at No.1 was back in November when Lady Gaga released Joanne. It’s taken 31 weeks for another female artist to reign at No. 1 (shoutout to Halsey) on the Billboard 200. This is the first time in 33 YEARS that there have been NO female artists in the Hot 100′s Top 10. A damn shame.

So instead of marinating in my irritation, I’ve decided to write a lil’ something something for y’all in hopes that I can maybe highlight a few female artists worthy of that top spot on the Hot 100. This is my list of Female Artist’s We’re Sleepin’ On at the moment. I encourage you to take a listen to each and every artist and if you find an artist you like, make sure to stream, purchase and support! #GIRLPOWER

1. Zara Larsson

Favorite Tune: Ain’t My Fault, So Good, Lush Life

When I try to describe Zara Larsson to people who don’t know her, I describe her as our next big pop star. Zara already has a significant following in Europe and I think it will only be a matter of time before she starts to gain traction here in America. In my opinion, Zara has exactly what it takes to be one of the world’s “long-term pop stars”  and it’s pretty obviously (at least to me) that her ‘people’ are prepping her for just that.

Zara’s most successful release to date, is a single she released with British singer MNEK, “Never Forget You”. The song is certified 2x platinum in the US and peaked at #13 on The Billboard Hot 100.

Zara released her debut album So Good on March 17, 2017. The album is certified Gold in the US.

You can stream “So Good” on streaming services as well as purchase the album on iTunes and on her official website HERE.

2. Little Mix

Favorite Tunes: Black Magic, Touch (Acoustic), Move

I’m not gonna lie to y’all, I used to be a dedicated Little Mix hater. Granted - I was a HUGE One Direction fan and one of the things I’m most embarrassed about was hating Little Mix because they had ties to one of my favorite bands. Thankfully, I’ve matured a lot since then and when I decided to go ahead and give Little Mix a proper listen, I was very glad I did.

Little Mix got their start on the seventh season of The X-Factor (UK) in 2011. They entered the competition as solo artists and were put into a girl group by Simon Cowell - 1D-style. Little Mix went on to be the only group in X-Factor history to win the competition and are now one of the most successful female acts in contemporary British popular culture. Of course, America hasn’t caught on yet.

Little Mix’s latest gig was being one of the opening acts on Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman Tour this past year where they were absolutely incredible. I’m hoping this bit of American exposure will give Little Mix the push and recognition they deserve.

You can stream Little Mix’s latest release “Glory Days” on streaming services, purchase on iTunes or on their official website HERE.

3. Hayley Kiyoko

Favorite Tunes: Girls Like Girls, Gravel To Tempo, Sleepover

If I had to choose one word to describe Hayley Kiyoko and her music, it would simply be: cool.

One of the best things about Hayley (besides her music) is how open she is with her fans. She’s a member of the LGBTQ community and uses her platform to speak out and encourage her fans to be their truest selves. Hayley uses her music as well as her videos to share her own struggles with her sexuality and the struggles other members of the LGBTQ community may also be facing. Her most popular videos “Girls Like Girls” and “Sleepover” (she directed both) have over 72 million views combined.

I recently had the privilege of seeing Hayley live and throughout the show she was full of energy and was one of the most personable artists I’ve seen live. She spoke to her audience like we were a room full of friends she’d known for years rather than fans who paid money to see her.

Hayley’s latest single, “Sleepover” is a song about unrequited love - dedicated to a girl friend who only wants to be friends and to cope, Hayley daydreams about the relationship they could have. The video features model Christina Santini as Hayley’s love interest and has been praised for being “queer-affirmative”.

You can stream Hayley’s latest release “Sleepover” on streaming services as well as purchase the single on iTunes or on her official store HERE.

4. Christine and the Queens

Favorite Tunes: Tilted, iT, Sorry (Beyoncé cover on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge)

Héloïse Letissier is such a cool girl, OMG. Every time I listen to Christine and the Queens I feel like the coolest person on this planet. I discovered Christine and the Queens while browsing through BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge sessions on YouTube. If you’ve ever wasted away while searching through Live Lounge sessions, you know what it’s like to look around and come across a Beyoncé cover. To keep it short and sweet, it’s usually not even worth your time to watch another artist cover Beyoncé. But things changed when I came across Christine and the Queens’ rendition of “Sorry”. I HAD to know more about this artist.

Christine and the Queens is another artist who has found tons of success outside of the U.S. and I’m hoping to see some of that success translate over to America.

I encourage you all to listen to Christine and the Queens’ debut self-titled album. You can stream the album on all streaming services as well as purchase the album on iTunes or on Christine and the Queens’ official website HERE.

5. Maggie Rogers

Favorite Tunes: Alaska, Color Song, On + Off

Maggie Rogers is another effortlessly cool girl who I aspire to be. If you feel like the name ‘Maggie Rogers’ sounds a bit familiar that might be because Maggie was a part of a viral video where she had the opportunity to play Pharrell her demo for a song called, “Alaska” during a class at The Clive Davis Institute at NYU. In the video, Pharrell tells Maggie, “I have zero, zero, zero notes for that. I’ve never heard anyone like you before.” That’s a compliment if I’ve ever heard one before and from Pharrell at that? Crazy.

Maggie went on to graduate from NYU and sign with Capitol Records and recently released her debut EP “Now That the Light Is Fading”. You can stream Maggie’s EP on streaming services or purchase on iTunes.

6. Icona Pop

Favorite Tunes: Manners, Good for You, Windows (Felix Snow feat. Icona Pop)

I got one question for y’all - why are y’all still sleepin’ on Icona Pop?

At this point I’ve given up hope that Icona Pop will ever catch on and get the attention they so rightfully deserve. They’ve had SO many amazing opportunities for exposure and recognition and still NOTHING.

In 2012 Icona Pop released smash hit, “I Love It” with Charli XCX and what came of it? NOTHING. Icona Pop has opened for some of the biggest artists in the world - One Direction, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus - and what has come of it? NOTHING.

Truthfully, I’m not really sure what Icona Pop could do to secure a spot on y’all’s playlists but I want the public to give Icona Pop a second chance!

Caroline and Aino deserve that second chance - do it for them!

You can stream Icona Pop’s latest release “GIRLS GIRLS” on streaming services as well as purchase on iTunes or on Icona Pop’s official website HERE.

7. Kacey Musgraves

Favorite Tunes: Late to the Party, Fine, waves - Remix (Miguel feat. Kacey Musgraves)

Y’all, I love Kacey Musgraves. I don’t think I can even go into detail about how much I love Kacey because I’ll end up writing a 10,000 word essay on why I think Kacey Musgraves is so amazing and so worthy of being our #1 Country princess.

If you’re someone who actively shies away from anything Country music related - that’s okay, but I think you’ll make an exception for Kacey Musgraves. As someone who doesn’t know much about Country music, I consider Kacey to be more of an Alternative/Indie Country artist. I say this because Kacey tends to lean more towards “Texas Country” rather than your typical traditional Country sound. Does that make sense? No? Anyways...

One of my favorite things about Kacey is how she works with artists you would never expect her to and I think that’s because she has fans of all different types and from all different places because of her unconventional style. Kacey has worked with Miguel on a remix of his 2016 single “waves” which Country fans and non-Country fans alike loved. Kacey was also announced as the supporting act on the American leg of Harry Styles’ 2018 Arena Tour in support of his debut album. Honestly, my dream concert.

Another thing about Kacey is how she tends to talk about topics that are considered taboo in the conservative Country world. On Kacey’s Grammy award winning debut album, her lyrics spoke on homosexuality, sex and marijuana. Super taboo.

Check out Kacey’s 2015 album “Pageant Material” which is available on streaming services and for purchase on iTunes and on her official website HERE.

8. The Aces

Favorite Tunes: Stuck, Physical, Baby Who

I rarely discover artists who don’t already have an album, a successful single, and a dedicated following already in tact - I’m not that cool, sorry. But I was lucky enough to discover The Aces when they only had one single under their belt, literally NOTHING else.

I’ll go ahead and give all props to Nylon for this, who wrote an article about their first single, “Stuck” and described the song as “unpretentious, dreamy fun”. The Aces have since gone on to sign with Red Bull Records, release two official music videos and three new singles.

I usually hate comparing bands to one another but The Aces give me huge Haim/The 1975 vibes so if you’re a fan of either band, I would go ahead and give The Aces your full attention.

I’m so excited to see what The Aces have in store for us over the next year or so - I expect great things!

You can stream The Aces’ latest single, “Touch” on streaming services or purchase on iTunes or on The Aces’ official website HERE.

9. Hinds

Favorite Tunes: Bamboo, Davey Crockett, Castigadas En El Granero

My Madrid BABES. Just to give a bit of an idea of how long I’ve been following Hinds - I’ve been following Hinds since before they were even called Hinds, okay. I’ve gotten to see them prosper into this perfect all-girl, garage rock band that I love oh so much.

My favorite thing about Hinds is when Hinds releases a song, you never know what you’re gonna get. Sometimes they’re super mellow and chill and other times they’re screaming the entire song.

I have nothing else to say about them - just TRUST ME. If you’re someone who’s into bands that sound like Best Coast or Chastity Belt than you’ll love Hinds. TRUST ME.

Stream Hinds 2016 debut album “Leave Me Alone” on streaming services or purchase on iTunes or on their official website HERE.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 23rd July 2018

Welp, nothing happened. Very stale week for the most part.

Top 10

Delightful – the worst single Drake’s released since “Pop Style”, “In My Feelings” featuring uncredited vocals from the City Girls, has gone up three spots from last week’s debut, making it our current chart-topper, surprisingly not replacing Drake himself, but we’ll get to that. At least City Girls, Magnolia Shawty’s family and Lil Wayne are getting money from this being #1 in both the UK and US. God knows they deserve it, well, at least Wayne.

“Shotgun” by George Ezra is somehow still at number-two. This song has a surprising amount of longevity.

Oh, yeah, “Solo” by Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato has also kept its place at number-three, which is cool.

Now, we have our first debut on the charts, which, similarly to last week, had its first-week charting position at number-four, the controversially-titled “God is a woman” (yes, it’s stylised in sentence case for no reason) by Ariana Grande, the second single from her upcoming album Sweetener.

Oh, yeah, Drake just won’t leave, as “Don’t Matter to Me” with Michael Jackson and Paul Anka is at a standstill at number-five.

“Rise” by Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack is up a spot to number-six. Just lovely.

“Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B is also up that single position to number-seven.

“Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer has jumped up three spaces to entering the top 10, at number-eight, and yeah, this definitely deserves it. Good song.

Talking about songs that deserve to finally enter the top 10, “Jackie Chan” by Tiesto and Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone has also taken a three-space increase right to number-nine.

Oh, and because of the album hype lessening and dying down, “If You’re Over Me” by Years & Years kind of collapses four spaces to number-ten. It seems to be on its way out, and I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.

Climbers

There’s not really that many notables this week, but we do have Tyga’s “Taste” featuring Offset entering the top 20 as it moves up eight spaces to #16, “Only You” by Cheat Codes and Little Mix doing the same as it hits #19 after a nine-space increase. “Ring Ring” by Jax Jones featuring Mabel and Rich the Kid also had a lesser increase, only jumping up six spaces to #23.

Fallers

There’s only one fall of note here, but it’s pretty damn interesting how Tom Walker’s “Leave a Light On” just suddenly crashed down 15 spaces to #31... I know adverts only have a short impact on the charts, but I’m surprised by how this was just in free-fall this week, especially since I’ve actually heard it gain some traction on radio... except I checked the statistics and it’s done exactly the opposite. This song massively fell on UK airplay charts, to the point where it’s neck and neck with Meghan freaking Trainor. Yikes.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Guys, we have just witnessed a chart history milestone: Last week’s #1, “Three Lions” by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds dropped from the top of the charts to #97, which means it experienced the biggest ever dropout from the top 40 (from #1) and the biggest decrease in UK Singles Chart history, having a 96-space fall. That’s kind of impressive in the weirdest way. I suppose we as a country were so crushed by Croatia winning against us that we decided to crush this song’s chances of any longevity, which I’m not necessarily complaining about, honestly.

Other drop outs from the top 40 include “These Days” by Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Dan Caplen and Macklemore, right after it returned for a brief stint at #40 last week, as well as “Moonlight” by XXXTENTACION out from #37. Last week’s incredibly convenient returning entry, “American Idiot” by punk-rockers Green Day is now out from #25, also.

Oh, and “This is Me” by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble is back again at #37, just go away, already!

Now for a new feature:

The Ed Sheeran Update

On this show, we often talk about Ed Sheeran and his inexplicable chart success, well, I figured I’d add something to shake up the formula: a short feature where we talk about how Ed Sheeran fared in the top 100. Well, “Shape of You” jumped up 13 spaces to #73 for no reason at all, and “Perfect” is up three spaces to #58.

Oh, yeah, and “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers? Still holding on. In fact, it just returned to #99 this week.

NEW ARRIVALS

#34 – “Ocean” – Martin Garrix and Khalid

So, this song has been bubbling under for a while now, but on a slow week, it actually was able to have a pretty high debut. It’s no surprise to see Khalid on an EDM track, either, as he also sang on “Silence” by Marshmello last year, and has collaborated with Calvin Harris, albeit on a decidedly very non-EDM track. Well, how does this song compare to the countless collaborations Khalid has popped up with in the last few months?

Well, it doesn’t, at all, because, frankly, I don’t think this song even exists. It’s such a non-presence that after I listened to it – four times, may I add – I could barely even remember the hook’s melody. It has an annoying an unnecessary synth sound that goes on throughout the whole thing, but it had a decently complex drum beat, and Khalid’s performance is smooth as always, even when he dips into his falsetto, but damn, that pre-chorus build-up is powerful. Honestly, this drop is so much of a mess that I’m surprised I have no memory of it. There’s some vocal samples all intertwined with a fast-paced orchestral string loop that only plays once throughout the whole drop, even though it could definitely add a lot of “oomph” to the track, then there’s an out-of-place acoustic guitar riff that is again, the only time you notice that instrument at all in this song. I don’t have any real complaints with this song – it’s mixed near-perfectly (even if I’d appreciate more accentuation on the bass), Khalid’s fantastic, and I’m not saying the all-over-the-place drop is bad, necessarily, it’s just kind of... intangible.

When a song is named after a place or an emotion, you’re going to have to feel that translating into the composition, even if it is completely without lyrics. I think that’s why I’m more appreciative of “SAD!” than a lot of people – you can tell that it successfully, even if you hate it – well, especially if you hate it, makes you sad or at least gets you to realise the effort into making it sound sad. “Plastic Beach” by Gorillaz is another good comparison in terms of places, as it is stiff and noisy like plastic but it still has wave sound effects to paint the background, joyous synths and whale-related lyrics (delivered in a rather plastic monotone), that create a beautiful contrast between the plastic and the beach. It feels like an artificial shore... but “Ocean” is only an ocean in name. It’s weaksauce EDM, that doesn’t feel as powerful as an ocean and definitely isn’t upsetting in any way to capture the “blue” colour of a wave. This is why I like CamelPhat so much. “Panic Room” is urgent but still kind of trapped in a confined space, “Cola” is constantly shaking it up, like a can of coke. They are EDM producers who make the titles fit and matter, but “Ocean”... nah, I can’t feel this. Next.

#30 – “Summertime Magic” – Childish Gambino

Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino, recently dropped a surprise-release Summer-themed two-track R&B EP called Summer Pack and the first track of two, obviously gained the most traction. Last time I talked about Glover on this show was when “This is America” debuted, and I wasn’t very impressed, but from what I heard, this new EP harkens back to his 2016 album “Awaken, My Love!”, which I loved, so hopefully I’ll dig this.

Well, it’s less disjointed than “This is America” but it’s definitely not as exciting, as it starts with some dreadfully boring steel pans with barely any accompaniment other than the reverb they’re soaked in, then Gambino comes in and starts singing over some admittedly nice synths, before the hook – which, for a lyrical wordsmith, is oddly and infuriatingly repetitive, especially since it’s full of nonsense words – which covers Gambino’s decent voice in just DJ Mustard-like bass and extra percussion, which definitely picks things up a bit, but not enough. It feels like Summer, alright, but it tries its hardest not to, with all the rain effects and the pretty dreary melodies that surround the vocals that could have made a pretty damn good pop song.

#4 – “God is a woman” – Ariana Grande

I know a lot of people are worried about Sweetener, but personally, I’ve liked all the singles released from it prior to this track, which stirred some controversy for its pretty clickbait title. Of course, the song doesn’t even dare to trip into any religious or political territory, no, it’s a sex song. Why is it called “God is a woman”? Well, because, sex with Ariana is apparently so good that the man will believe afterwards that God is a woman, because the sex was heavenly, yeah, you get the gist. It’s pretty obvious that Grande wouldn’t get right-wing nuts complaining, or a debut this high for a single like this, if it wasn’t for the clickbait-level title. Honey, just make a good, safe song and you will have success, it happened with “no tears left to cry” just a few weeks back. It’s a pretty dumb move to resort to tactics like this when Grande’s such a big star with such a loyal fanbase that people will stream this no matter what you call it.

Oh, yeah, and this song? Well I like the vocal melody here, it’s really nice in the hook, especially when Grande starts to sing more seductively over a surprisingly hard-hitting trap beat, with some heavy bass and a blocky, yet pretty slick drum pattern that makes Grande subconsciously start making Lil Pump-like “yuh” ad-libs in between the lines on the pre-chorus. There’s also a choir of a chorus harmonising with multi-tracked Grande voices, which sing pretty beautifully while Grande belts out some ad-libs. This whole song is so tight and constricted yet has a great final release as its climax, so unlike “Ocean”, everything feels worth it by the end.

Conclusion

“God is a woman” by Ariana Grande takes Best of the Week home, obviously, but nothing else here is good or bad, it’s all just kind of a boring middle-ground. See you next week!

[topsolarpanels]

Charlottesville’s white awakening: ‘We were living in a bubble, ‘ say residents

On Sunday, Ariana Grande helped the Virginia town recover from last months violence which some white residents admitted had been a serious wake-up call

Inside the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium, a succession of pop superstars were telling local residents that” Love trumps hate” and” You will not dethrone love .” Dave Matthews, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake were holding a free concert to assist Charlottesville recover from the violent white supremacist and neo-Nazi protests that rocked the town last month.

But as he smoked a cigarette by the stadium concession stands Sunday evening, Jack( who did not want his last name employed) wasn’t talking about love. He was talking about his referendum. The 25 -year-old, who has lived in Charlottesville most of his life, is a conservative in a liberal town. He said he had voted for Donald Trump, hoping that a political outsider would bring change.

Then white supremacists had marched across his hometown carrying torches and chanting” You will not replace us” and” Jews will not replace us .” They carried guns and wore helmets and shields and fight with anti-fascists in the streets, generating news footage viewed around the world.

As a white man, the kind of American these far-right groups claimed to represent,” I felt ashamed ,” he said. His friends who are not white had been terrified, wondering if they would be safe going outside or walking around. In response, Trump, the president he had supported, repeatedly blamed” both sides” and” many sides” and said there were” very fine people” who marched alongside the neo-Nazis.

Jack said he didn’t know if any mainstream conservatives had marched alongside neo-Nazis on 12 August.” If I insured a Nazi flag come up, I would be out of there ,” he said.

Charlottesville was definitely not the first time Trump had said something that built Jack uncomfortable, and it was was not the first time friends had shared their dreads with him about how their race might construct them vulnerable. When it came to police barbarism, Jack said, he listened, but he also had his own relationship with the police as authority figures, and wanted to believe that most police officer would not simply racially profile people.” This was different ,” he said. The white supremacists’ stance towards other races was absolutely clear.

Whether Trump was a white supremacist himself, he said, he did not know. But along with Trump’s” Rocket Man” jabs at North Korea, the president’s reaction to Charlottesville had convinced him that he would not be voting for Trump again, and that he was required to vet his candidates more carefully in the future.

On Sunday, as tens of thousands of locals filled stadium seats and clustered on the field in front of the stage, the mood was relaxed and upbeat. But, like Jack, some white Charlottesville residents said that that watching fascists march through their streets had been a wake-up call.

” It opened our eyes ,” said Pat Sury, who lives outside Charlottesville.” That it’s here as well as everywhere else. We were living in a bubble .”

Jessica Lavin, Pat Sury and Rosanna Lavin, who live outside Charlottesville. After the white supremacist rally, Lavin and her friends have tried to talk more about race. Photo: Lois Beckett for the Guardian

” I think it get everybody talking a lot more about what’s going on in our community ,” said Rosanna Lavin, 62, sitting with Sury and other friends at a small tailgating party in the parking lot.” We cannot be blind to some of the issues that we really don’t deal with ,” including” alt-right hatred” and” race relations “.

At work, Lavin said, she has tried to talk about race more with her colleagues of coloring.” I think we’re too afraid to approach topics sometimes and get honest reactions ,” she said. But the “bits and pieces” of conversation had not yet created steps forward other than overall supporting.

Conversations about racism” are not the funnest dialogues to have or the easiest ,” but they were happening with more urgency now, said Devin Welch, 33, who works for a solar energy company in Charlottesville, at a different tailgate party. Before the white supremacist protests, local entrepreneurs had already been discussing how to support and money a more diverse situate of start-up founders, ensuring that venture capital funding did not just stay within white social networks. After the protests, it’s not just a priority- “now it’s top,” he said.

Welch said he believed that what Charlottesville had witnessed was the” death gasps of a dying ideology ,” not the growth of something new.

Malcolm Wills, 20, and Fernando Garay, 19, said that protests in Charlottesville had appeared to stimulate people more comfy openly saying racist things, particularly on Facebook. Both young men said they had been shocked to watch acquaintances defend white supremacists online, and that people they knew talked earnestly about their concerns about white people becoming a minority.

Fernando Garay, 19, left, and Malcolm Wills, 20, right. Both said they were shocked to insure people they knew defend white domination online. Photograph: Lois Beckett for the Guardian

The tension and anxiety of the first days after the white supremacists’ protests had faded, Wills said. The two young men said they hoped that if the neo-Nazis came back, the town would choose to let them protest without much reaction, rather than feeding their agenda with attention.

A black fourth-year student at the University of Virginia, who said she did not want to give her name, said she was trying to enjoy her last year of university, and not let what happened define her experience. That wasn’t easy. As a peer counselor to younger students of coloring, she said she has fielded many questions from first-years about whether they should transfer to another school.

She said she advised them to remain.” Sadly, wherever you are in America, you can probably experience these things ,” she said.

Inside the stadium, Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer, the young woman killed when an alleged white supremacist drove a car into a mob of counter-protesters, had received a standing ovation from the audience at the beginning of the concert, and urged listeners to continue her daughter’s legacy by showing up to confront hatred and discrimination.

” Tragically, because Heather stood bravely against combating racism and hatred, she was taken from us ,” Bro told the crowd, asking them to” turn our righteous fury into action .”

The crowd at the concert in Charlottesville. Photo: Zack Wajsgras/ AP

Her daughter” loved humanity with an open heart. That’s what dedicated her the strength and compassion to stand up with her friends against dislike. As Heather said, if you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention .”

Ariana Grande, whose young fans were targeted by a suicide bomber in Manchester in May, leaving 22 people killed and dozens more wounded, struck a similar note between her situates at the concert.

The pop singer, who just finished a world tour, came to Charlottesville to participate in her second benefit concert following an act of terror in the space of simply four months. She had hosted her own benefit, One Love Manchester, in June.

America’s president usually serves as the country’s consoler-in-chief. But Trump, who had branded terrorists” evil losers” after the Manchester attack, had not come to Charlottesville to offer support. So it was the 24 -year-old pop singer who took on that rhetorical role, mixing succour with a reminder of their shared values.

” I want to tell you how proud I am to be part of a generation that is so passionate about making a change ,” she told the crowd.” Keep employing your voices and making this a safer place for each other .”

This article was amended on 26 September 2017 to remove the full name and photo of an interviewee at any such requests.

The post Charlottesville’s white awakening: ‘We were living in a bubble, ‘ say residents appeared first on Top Rated Solar Panels.

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[madmike21-stuff-blog]

2016 Modern Music Expressing That Black Lives Matter

In today’s society, we battle with the argument between progressions versus regression in the equality of African Americans in the United States. In the last 100 years the schools and politics seem to only focus on the progressive outlooks such as African Americans gaining the right to vote, eliminating segregation (for the most part) and also turning away from slavery and giving African Americans “Freedom”.

A question Beyonce creates in her song “Freedom” is what is Freedom exactly? In the Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of freedom is “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action”. Yet in the music video of “Freedom” performed by Beyonce, some of the most important song lyrics state “Freedom! Freedom! I can't move. Freedom, cut me loose! Freedom! Freedom! Where are you? 'Cause I need freedom too!". The music video directly performed for the Black Lives Matter Movement, explaining the struggle of an African American and the cases of police brutality. The song is ironically named “Freedom” but is ultimately showing the viewer that this is not freedom.

During the performance, Beyonce is surrounded by African American dancers, dressed in straps all over, giving the effect they are constrained and not free at all.  The video begins with the dancers marching towards the stage, and then part of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech is played. This tie’s in the words of Beyonce’s song with the challenges African Americans are facing every day, proving to the viewer that what society calls Freedom, has actually not been given. Discrimination and police brutality are still very present today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GrzftHFqgw

Another popular music video promoting this cause is the song “Black Lives Matter” by Craze 24. The artist is not a well known artist but from his music video published in 2016 he has received multiple thousands of viewers for his music video. The music video starts with a news interview of a young man who just lost somebody close to him at the scene of a police shooting. He is very upset and delivers a powerful statement, explaining he doesn’t know when this will end, but that their needs to be a change from both sides. The music video continues as the artist sings and more and more incidents are playing of police shootings of innocent African Americans.

The video shows many incidents of families gathered around flowers in remembrance of their lost loved one from the result of police shootings.  A few very powerful scenes occur when the artist sings “simply stepping out of our homes” while in the music video a police body cam plays showing an African American couple walking out their door. Next showing the officer who had just shot the man as he lies covered in blood receiving no medical treatment while handcuffed and lying face down. The whole video plays through showing plenty of incidents of police brutality, recognizing the deaths of many victims of these brutal attacks’.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg0tW6tX37s

Another song written in hope of a sort of peace for everyone is the song “Better Days” performed by the artist’s Ariana Grande and Victoria Monet. The music video jumps around throughout, while the majority of the time the music video plays film shot of Ariana Grande backstage, outside her music career and time with friends but also has parts with characters playing a story that unfolds as the artists sing. The lyrics of the music video are the key relationship between the Black Lives Matter Movement and the music video. In this song “Better Days” the beginning has an important line relating to this topic. It states “Baby there's a war right outside our window. Don't you hear the people fighting for their lives?” The artists are singing and acknowledging that there is a problem and that they are hoping for “Better Days” when the problems will be resolved.

The lyrics are telling us that people are fighting for their own lives and we find out later in the song what the lyrics are referring to. The artist’s sing “How we gonna stop the violence, stop the hurting, stop the hatred, stop the murder. We are all human that’s for certain, come together we deserve it.” These lyrics explain that when she says come together this means that we as a nation are divided. That America needs to stop the division and come together, and be equal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja76Zg9i23k

 The fourth and final music video released February 2nd, 2016 that contributes and relates to the Black Lives Matter Movement is performed by Usher titled “Chains”. This song is very powerful and brings so much emotion to the viewer. Throughout the video, dozens of faces of African Americans pop up with their tragedy explained underneath. Nearly all of the story’s shows that the policeman who wrongfully murdered the victim got away clean, while explaining that each victim had been doing completely nothing wrong.

Not every incident from this music video was directly from police brutality as some were from other causes also. Some important lines from this song are when the artist sings “I am Sugar Ray Robinson, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois; I'm the modern one, yelling at senators, presidents, congressmen. We got a problem that needs some acknowledgement. I am no prison commodity, not just a body you throw in a cell." What does this mean exactly? Usher is trying to explain that African Americans are people too, there is no difference between any races, and that we are all equal, and that we should all be treated equally, no matter what skin tone you have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Knd2el4Lfw

Though after doing research it doesn’t seem that any police brutality has slowed down at all, these artists are determined to use their position as a voice for the victims. Many other famous individuals have joined in such as the NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem and many others in support of Black Lives Matter. This is all in hope of a better and more equal tomorrow, or as Ariana and Victoria put it, hoping for “Better Days”.

References:

Smith, Troy L. “Black Lives Matter: 25 songs that embody the movement.” Cleveland.com, Cleveland.com, 19 July 2016, www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/07/black_lives_matter_25_songs_th.html.

Spanos, Brittany, and Sarah Grant. “Songs of Black Lives Matter: 22 New Protest Anthems.” Rolling Stone, 13 July 2016,

www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/songs-of-black-lives-matter-22-new-protest-anthems-20160713.

Peterson, Andrea. “Beyoncé is a powerful voice for Black Lives Matter. Some people hate her for it.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 July 2016. www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/07/10/beyonce-is-a-powerful-voice-for-black-lives-matter-some-people-hate-her-for-it/.

Brennan, Colin. “Ariana Grande and Victoria Monét share new single “Better Days” in support of Black Lives Matter”  

Consequence of Sound

July 10, 2016.

https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/07/ariana-grande-and-victoria-monet-share-new-single-better-days-in-support-of-black-lives-matter-listen/

[millennials-of-manila-blog]

Dangerous Woman, Album Critique by Kirstyn Gil

      Just four years and three records into her career, Ariana Grande has recognized that her increasing star power comes with a few requirements: She must live a life of direct attention, catering to an audience that has come to expect everything her brunette half-up-do represents, while at the same time finding ways to grow, both as a person and a musician. You get the sense that Ariana Grande spends those days and nights she sings about on “Focus” not just at work on an album, but on considering her position in the ever-shifting pop-range, and while there have, predictably, been personal and musical missteps, her willingness to experiment is what yielded the growth showcased on the impressive Dangerous Woman Album and has enabled her to continually exceed expectations for a twenty-three year old diva in training. When Grande first debuted with Yours Truly in 2013, she couldn’t escape Mariah Carey comparisons, compliments of her upper-whistle voice, four-octave range, and over reliance to showcase what that voice can do. That album though slightly unfocused in its blend of R&B and teen pop, laid the groundwork for Grande to inevitably graduate from doe-eyed school girl to a convincing Jessica Rabbit. On Dangerous Woman, she isn’t abandoning the teenaged tattooed hearts of her first album; she’s just switched up their placement to somewhere more risky. The Dangerous Woman album opens with the divine blue-eyed soul ballad and former track title, “Moonlight,”. Ariana makes her intentions plain on "Into You" the album’s electronic headrush, with “A little less conversation, and a little more touch my body,” while the album’s title track is pure pop-rock. Alongside Future, whom she’s essentially reduced to a single-word feature on “Everyday”. And on the bonus track “Touch It,” she’s teetering off the edge of self-control if left unsatisfied for too long. She’s at her best when she harnesses that desire and frustration into something personal. But beneath all-nighters there are brief revelatory moments. The synth-pop split bonus track “Knew Better / Forever Boy” sees her owning up to an inability to commit in relationships, only to finally allow herself to accept “happy ever after.” Then there’s “I Don’t Care,” one of her strongest Mariah impressions to date, in which she sings, “I used to feel so obligated to be so much more / I used to let some people tell me how to live and what to be / But if I can’t be me, then what's the point?” The irony of Ariana Grande calling herself "dangerous" and using nearly every variation of the word on the album isn’t lost on anyone, not even Ariana Grande herself. (“If you think you’re laughing at me, I promise I laughed first,”. To date, the most danger her career has incurred happened last summer, (back in 2016) when the singer and her backup dancer turned boyfriend, Ricky Alvarez (to whom she’s singing on most of the album) were caught on a surveillance camera licking donuts on display at a California sweets shop. “What the **** is that? I hate Americans. I hate America,” the audio picked up Grande saying to a server, which her first public apology clumsily tried to spin as her taking a stand against America’s obesity problem. “Some of the words she used in that shop were things she needed to address, and she did. But I also think, not about her, but just in general; we’re getting a little ridiculous when it comes to doughnuts and eggs,” Scooter Braun, Ariana Grande’s ex-manager, told the New York Times last December, referencing the actual danger Justin Bieber once did as well. In February, Grande dropped Braun as her manager. The next month, she made her Saturday Night Live hosting debut, opening with about how she’s right on schedule for pop’s rite of passage: her first adult scandal. She was treating her behavior with a little more danger. But the very act of titling her album Dangerous Woman, doubles down on that demand to be treated as a mature, focused adult rather than the diva with a ponytail she’s been characterized as since red haired Nickelodeon days. And, before then, a starring role on Broadway at 14. “Ain’t you ever seen a princess be a bad *****?” she asks on “Bad Decisions,” addressing those listeners who are stuck on an image she’s since outgrown. While it may take some child stars years to build a bridge from teen star to adulthood, Ariana Grande carefully avoided ever spending too long in one role, instead consistently adapting her persona to her age along the way. If it feels like she’s still overexperimenting, then, it’s because she is. Ariana Grande tries them on like headpieces custom-fit for her ponytail, making her experiments feel more like a broadening of her style than a departure from it. She knows what she came to do, and that is not gonna change, even as she does. At this point, there’s no question that Ariana Grande is a powerhouse vocalist, having earned her comparisons to Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera. Ariana Grande’s impeccable control, and penchant for belting assures that no matter the lyrics or production, her music will always be strong in that regard. And as in her previous album My Everything, (which, by the way, was my favorite of all time) was full of bangers like the Zedd-produced “Break Free,” the production on her new Dangerous Woman is enormous, "Into You," might be Grande's best single since “Love Me Harder.” Out of all albums Ariana Grande had created, she had been nominated 116 times for many, many awards and had actually won 39 of them. And that was only as of November 2016. This truly shows and reflects her success as a Pop Singer because unlike many, her fame had risen up the fastest way possible because of purely her talent. Being only twenty-three years old and being this successful, I know her fame would grow greater and her success will rise throughout the upcoming years.